Helsinki Chemicals Forum 2017
HCF 2017 Final report Forum presentationsThursday 8 June 2017
8:00 Registration
8:45 Opening Ceremony
- Kimmo Tiilikainen, Minister of Environment
9:00 Keynote: 10 Years of REACH: Accomplisments so far and challenges ahead
- Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner, European Commission
9.20 Keynote: How ECHA’s integrated regulatory strategy will secure success in reaching the 2020 UN goal on chemicals management
- Geert Dancet, Executive Director, ECHA
9.40 Keynote: The long anticipated reform of TSCA in the US
- Jim Jones, Former EPA Assistant Administrator for Chemicals Safety, USA
10:00 COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK
10:30 PANEL 1: What has chemicals legislation done for us over the last decade?
Moderator: Erwin Annys, Director Chemicals Policy, CEFIC, Belgium
Panelists:
- Vito Buonsante, Law&Policy Advisor, ClientEarth, Belgium
- Björn Hansen, Head of Unit, EU-Commission
- Andrea Paetz, Director, Regulatory Policy, BAYER AG, Germany
- Jake Sanderson, Manager, Environment Canada
- Jan Wijmenga, Ministry of Infrastucture and Environment, The Netherlands
12:30 LUNCH
13:15 PANEL 2: The Sustainable Development Goals – Is there a business case?
Moderator: Achim Halpaap, Head, Chemicals and Waste Branch, UNEP, Belgium
Panelists:
- Ricardo Barra, Dean, University on Conception, Chile
- Leticia Carvalho, Director, Ministry of Environment, Brazil
- Qian Cheng, Deputy Head, Greenpeace East Asia, China
- Timo Unger, Manager Environmental Affairs, Hyundai Europe, Germany
- Hartwig Wendt, Executive Director, CEFIC, Belgium
15:15 COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK
15:45 PANEL 3: Post-2020 Global Chemicals Supply Chains – What will be the drivers for market supply and demand and will chemicals product safety emerge a winner or loser?
Moderator: BjØrn Hansen, Head of Unit, European Commission
Panelists:
- Rafael Cayuela, Chief Economist, Dow, USA
- Joseph DiGangi, Senior Science and Technical Advisor, IPEN, Australia
- Anouschka Jansen, Senior Manager, Foreign Trade Association, Belgium
- Mihai Scumpieru, Manager, Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V. Vice Chair, Japan Business Council in Europe
- Peter Smith, Executive Director, CEFIC, Belgium
17:45 Concluding remarks by Jukka Malm, Deputy Executive Director, ECHA
18:00 END OF DAY 1
20:00 Dinner at the Helsinki City Hall
22:00 Transportation to the Messukeskus hotel, Messuaukio 1
Let’s celebrate 10 years of REACH
Welcome to start our first day around REACH: hear the accomplisments and challenges of REACH by our keynote speaker Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska
KEYNOTE 1:
Thursday 8 June 9:00 “10 Years of REACH: Accomplisments so far and challenges ahead”
Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner, European Comission
PANEL 1 – Concept:
A chance to ask those big picture questions:
- What has legislation done to protect human health and the environment?
- Has it at the same time protected competitiveness and supported innovation?
- What would it have looked like if we had not legislated?
Moderator: Erwin Annys, Director Chemicals Policy, CEFIC
PANEL 2 – Concept:
2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the Brundtland report on sustainable development. A new set of goals came into effect in 2016 to guide societal and planetary needs up to 2030. Chemicals safety plays an important role for the achievement of several of the goals. How should businesses engage with them and what are the bottom-line risks of not doing so? The panel will debate this issue using examples of product successes and failures.
Moderator: Achim Halpaap, Head, Chemicals and Waste Branch, UNEP
PANEL 3 – Concept:
Examining macro-economic forecasts, global market trends, supply chain needs, the panel will debate what the products of tomorrow will look like and the implications for the drive to achieve safer chemicals in products
Moderator: BjØrn Hansen, Head of Unit, European Commission
Friday 9 June 2017
9:00 PANEL 4: Speeding up chemical assessments: from novel information to new management approaches, what works?
Moderator: Mamta Patel, Director & Co-Founder, Chemical Watch, UK
Panelists:
- Dorte Bjerregaard Lerche, PhD, Ministry of Environment and Food, Denmark
- Anne Gourmelon, Principal Administrator, OECD
- Erika Kunz, Head of Global Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals, Clariant, Germany
- Brian Richards, Executive Director, Office of Chemical Safety, Australia
- Russell Thomas, EPA, USA
11:00 COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK
11:30 PANEL 5: Substances of concern (SVHCs) in products – whose job is it to control these in a free trade world?
Moderator: Jack de Bruijn, Directorof Risk Management, ECHA
Panelists:
- Ravi Agarval, Director, Toxics Link, India
- Karin Kilian, Policy Officer, EU-Commission
- Remi Lefevre, Scientific Officer, ECHA
- Kevin Mulvaney, Senior Director, ACC, USA
- Matthias Schmid, Manager Advanced Chemicals, ADIDAS AG, Germany
13:30 Concluding remarks and closing by Jukka Malm, Deputy Executive Director, ECHA
14:00 LUNCH
15:00–16:30 Offsite visit to Sitra: Reflections from the World Circular Economy Forum 2017 – Sitra’s pioneering work on the Circular Economy
- Ernesto Hartikainen, Circular Economy Specialist, The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra
Transportation to hotel and airport
Panel 4 – Concept
New approaches are being tried in different countries to use new kinds of information or use existing information in new ways in order to avoid animal testing and to speed up chemicals assessment and management including grouping, fast-tracking restrictions and computational screening.
- What is the experience of implementing such approaches to remove dangerous chemicals from the market or to make approval of chemicals more efficient?
- What are the trade-offs for society in using these approaches and are they acceptable?
Moderator: Mamta Patel, Director & Co-Founder, Chemical Watch
Panel 5 – Concept
Despite their efforts to obtain more information and manage the risks of chemicals, regulators and industry are frustrated by unregulated imports of articles that continue to expose people and the environment to dangerous chemicals. Unsafe products are still on every market that should not be. An international panel will discuss the size of the challenge and what more regulators and businesses can do to level the playing field.
Moderator: Jack de Bruijn, Directorof Risk Management, ECHA
Celebration of Finland 100
Helsinki Chemicals Forum is organised in the capital city of Finland yearly. This year 2017 will mark the hundredth year of Finland’s independence. Helsinki will be full of events and attractions to explore related to #Finland100. The centenary will be the most significant commemorative year for this generation of Finns. The centenary emphasises Finland’s strengths, such as equality and democracy by offering Finns and friends of Finland diverse and international centenary programme in Finland and abroad. The centenary celebration is open to both Finns and friends of Finland. Welcome to celebrate with us!
