The REACH Centre joined a team of chemical and environmental management specialists organised by Lancaster Environment Centre who have collaborated with the CRAES (Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences) for an international training course on chemicals risk assessment held in Beijing in April.

CRAES are one of China’s leading research bodies providing advice to regulators in the development of chemical and environmental regulation in China. Lancaster Environment Centre, part of Lancaster University is one of Europe’s leading centres for environmental research. The two organisations are collaborating in a number of areas and this was the second collaborative workshop.

The workshop, held over 3 days, was attended by over 100 delegates from major Chinese and international companies. Topics covered developments in Chinese environmental legislation, environmental risk assessment methodology and science and progress and learning from the European REACH implementation.

The REACH Centre was one of only three finalists in the Special Category Award of High Growth Business of the Year in The North of England Excellence Awards 2011.

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To operationalise the shared commitment to improve chemical safety, ECHA and the Japanese organisations [Japanese Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE)] have signed a Statement of Intent to enhance cooperation. The aim is to strengthen the scientific dialogue between the European Union and Japan and to increase cooperation on technical matters and other issues of common interest including the hazards and emerging risks of chemical substances, risk management tools, scientific collaboration and information exchange.

One of the anticipated areas of collaboration will be an exchange of knowledge and experience on integrated approaches to testing and assessment, e.g. combining results from QSAR and other alternative methods. The Statement of Intent will also promote the exchange of non-confidential information on hazards, uses and substance identification between ECHA and the Japanese regulatory authorities.

As part of the preparatory work towards this international collaboration, The REACH Centre and JEMAI (Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry) conducted a survey on the impact of REACH on the European industry on behalf of METI. This activity, concluded in May 2011 included numerous interviews of National Competent Authorities and Manufacturers/Importers/Downstream Users based in different EU countries.

• Statement from the National Institute of Technology & Evaluation (NITE)

The REACH Centre's chemtrac® software tool was launched today (8 August 2011). chemtrac® offers businesses and organisations worldwide online access to a comprehensive database of over 7,500 chemicals of concern and you can subscribe now or enrol for a free 7-day trial.

"Any business or organisation that needs to track chemicals of concern can now subscribe to one of the simplest and most straightforward systems available," says The REACH Centre CEO, Jonathan Lutwyche. "chemtrac® is ideal for manufacturers, chemical distributors and a diverse spectrum of retailers who need to follow regulatory developments across a wide range of chemical substances. They can find all the information that they need in one place, online and with the added benefit of being kept up to date by our own expert team."

chemtrac® is complementary to the various Bill of Materials (BOM) systems that are available. It not only offers the advantages of a broad overview of all current chemicals of concern but, in the months to come, it will also offer the possibility of adding and incorporating proprietary information and of integrating elements for supplier communciations and declarations, all with the security and stability that customer ICT systems rely on.

"Demand for this sort of information tool has been growing since REACH first came into force in 2007," says Jonathan, "and we can now offer it to organisations of all sizes and complexities at a price that makes sense for each business."

The REACH Centre is currently offering a free 7-day trial of chemtrac® to potential users and this can then be upgraded to a paid subscription that can also be extended to multiple users. Set up a free trial now or click here to find out more.

Following the success of their inaugural one day workshop in Huddersfield, and then a second in Birmingham, The REACH Centre and IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) have recently held another successful event in Newcastle. The one day workshop focused on some of the key technical and regulatory issues facing industry in the sustainable management of chemicals and was attended by around 40 companies.

The attending companies were made up of many different industries, including: manufacturing, utilities, retailers, academies, consultancies and regulatory authorities. All of whom helped make this second event another enjoyable day. Some of the notable companies who attended include; Rolls Royce Plc, BAE Systems, Sellafield Ltd and HMRC. The day was split into two halves, with the morning session covering current regulatory issues including the latest on REACH and CLP, enforcement activities, Biocidal Products Directive and SVHCs. There was also a presentation on Japanese industry from the Japan Environmental Management Association (JEMAI) for Industry, and their viewpoint on EU Chemicals regulations. Siobhan Murphy - scientific consultant from The REACH Centre -provided the introduction to the Biocidal Products Directive, which is a scheme that will ultimately require all biocidal products to be authorised before they can be placed on the EU market.

The second part of the day started with a presentation from Rolls-Royce, highlighting their perspective and management of REACH. This was then followed by a look at the key elements for compliance of the new Safety Data Sheets. The afternoon ended with a consideration of Nanotechnologies and how the development of a regulatory framework for risk assessment is progressing.

Guest speaker at the event, Taro Ishikawa from JEMAI, gave an insight into the Japanese economy and the chemical sector's critical role in supplying Japanese manufacturing industries. He described the event as "a very informative and enjoyable day. It's fantastic to have everybody together at one event and be able to discuss some of the key aspects affecting businesses. Looking to the future, we are planning for The REACH Centre to visit Tokyo later this year to provide further guidance and support to our manufacturing industries in Japan."

If you missed this event but would like to receive the presentations that were shown on the day then email enquiries@thereachcentre.com for your copy.