This week, I invited my friend and business colleague, the former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, into the studio to talk about what every CEO needs to know about the world right now. I know I say this a lot, but it is really true this time around: We covered a lot of ground in this conversation. Howard provides his perspective on what to pay attention to with regard to Brexit, energy policy, climate...
This week, I sat down with my colleague Jim Aidala, a Senior Government Affairs Consultant here at the firm, to discuss 2019 and the state of industrial and agricultural chemical regulation: what is to come, what to expect, and how we can prepare for it. We begin, of course, by looking at 2018, chiefly, the appointment and confirmation of Alexandra Dunn, the new EPA Assistant Administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention,...
This week, we offer something a little different. My colleague Christopher Bryant, a senior regulatory consultant here at the firm, invited Daniella Taveau and Daniel Pearson into our studio to sit down and talk about trade issues. As you will hear, their conversation ranged far and wide, hitting upon all aspects of the trade discussion which might be relevant to anyone working in the chemical manufacturing space. Listeners will hear about developing a historical context in...
This week, I sat down with my colleague Sheryl Dolan, a senior regulatory consultant here at Bergeson & Campbell, to discuss all things pesticides: past, present, and future. In our discussion, Sheryl provides the historical and legal/regulatory background necessary to understand the current state of pesticide regulation, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) manages under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA, as we like to call it. Among other...
Recently, the European Commission kicked-off a process to evaluate and likely revise the current EU Food Contact Materials (FCM) legislation. Now, this is a big deal for any stakeholders in this space—domestic or European — considering that the current legislation has been in in-place for many years and the proliferation of national standards has greatly complicated an already complex area. That is why I was excited when Renato Addis, of the Brussels-based regulatory consulting firm...
This week, I took part in a roundtable discussion about biobased products with my colleagues Kathleen Roberts and Dr. Rich Engler. Over the last several years, there has been a significant trend towards the use of renewable, bio-based chemicals. Although these chemicals often have similar, if not identical, functionalities as the non-renewable, fossil-based chemical that they are intended to replace, there are a number of regulatory challenges in bringing these to market. In this conversation,...
This week, I sat down with Karin Baron, a senior regulatory consultant here at Bergeson & Campbell and all around expert on chemical product labeling to discuss recent developments pertinent to the United States Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). These regulatory developments have been proposed to bring the HCS more in line with GHS, the Global Hazard Communication Standard. Karin unpacks this complex but really important area of the law and focuses on the aspirational and...