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Programme 2018

Read the conference report 2018

The conference report is a balanced and accessible reflection of the two day HCF conference written by our media associate Chemical Watch. Please notice that in order to upload reports on HCF SlideShare you need to login using your LinkedIn account.

Thursday 14 June

8:00−9:00 Registration​

9:00−10:00 Opening Ceremony​

9:00 Opening of the Forum
Jan Vapaavuori, Mayor of the City of Helsinki, Chair of the HCF Advisory Board​
Opening Remarks
9:20 Keynote − Live Long!
Bjorn Hansen, Executive Director, ECHA​
9:40 Keynote − And Prosper!
Marco Mensink, Director General, CEFIC​

10:00−10:30 COFFEE AND NETWORKING

10:30−12:30 PANEL 1
Capacity building beyond 2020

Concept:
There is a risk that the gap between OECD countries and developing countries keeps on increasing. What strategic and systematic approaches could be put in place to support the developing countries in particular in the context of SAICM and its” beyond 2020 process”.

Moderator: Jacob Duer, Head of Chemicals and Waste Branch, UNEP

Panelists:

  • Li Cangmin, Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center, Ministry of the Environmental Protection China
  • Thierry Decoud, Secretary, Secretariat of Environmental Control and Monitoring, Ministry of Environmental and Sustainable Development, Argentina​
  • David Williamson, Associate Director, Head of ESD Operations, Environment and Sustainability Department, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
  • Johanna Lissinger Peitz, Senior Advisor and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change, Sweden​

12:30−13:15 LUNCH

13:15−15:15 PANEL 2
Endocrine disruptors as a challenge for risk communication

Concept:
Concerns over adverse effects of ED´s have been on agenda for 20 years. Lot of scientific development have taken place and also further regulations have been put in place. Still the controversy around the topic remains. In the era of social media and deteriorating confidence in science how should authorities and stakeholders communicate about such a complex topic?

Moderator: Peter Korytar, Policy Coordinator − Chemicals, EU-Commission
Panelists: 

  • Barbara Demeneix, Professor, National Museum of Natural History, France
  • Stéphane Horel, Investigative journalist, Le Monde, France​
  • Martin Kayser, Senior Vice President of Product Safety, BASF, Germany​
  • Axel Singhofen, Adviser on Health and Environment Policy, Greens/EFA in the European Parliament​
  • Michael Warhurst, Executive Director, CHEM Trust, UK​

15:15−15:45 COFFEE AND NETWORKING

15:45−17:45 PANEL 3
Priority setting of chemicals – potential for harmonisation and synergies

Concept:
All countries that regulate industrial chemicals are applying screening and priority setting mechanisms to select chemicals for further testing, assessment or risk management. The approaches and methods already have several commonalities but there could be great opportunities for further synergies and savings via stronger sharing and harmonisation of the data and tools used. How can we further the use of exposure data to support priority setting? How can we maximally benefit from high throughput screening and other new approach methods to generate hazard data? How can we improve transparency and predictability for stakeholders? Can common data formats and IT tools create significant potential for tangible efficiency improvements for all involved authorities?

Moderator: Eeva Leinala, Principal Administrator, OECD
Panelist:

  • Leticia Carvalho, General Coordinator, Department of Environmental Quality and Waste, Ministry of Environment, Brazil
  • Tala R. Henry, Director, Risk Assessment Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency​
  • Jerker Lighthart, Senior Chemical Advisor, ChemSec, Sweden​
  • Mike Rasenberg, Head of Computational Assessment and Dissemination Unit, ECHA​
  • Michael Walls, Vice President – Regulatory and Technical Affairs, American Chemistry Council, US​

17:45−18:00 Concluding remarks of the first day​:

  • Jukka Malm, Deputy Executive Director, ECHA

​Social Programme

20:00 Dinner, City Hall – Empire Room​ (Address: Aleksanterinkatu 20, 00170 Helsinki)
Speaker: Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant and President of Cefic

Speech – Hariolf Kottman

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 15 June 2018

9:00−11:00 PANEL 4
Plastics 
− role of chemicals management to solve the problem with micro plastics in the environment

Concept:
Pollution of oceans and surface waters with microplastics is a widespread issue. Microplastics in environment originate on one hand from fragmentation of plastic products and waste, and on the other hand from intentionally produced microplastics. Many countries and international organisations are looking into this. The problem is in the interface of many policy areas and regulations − what solutions can chemicals management provide? What learnings there are for sustainable product design?

Moderator: Mamta Patel, CEO & Co-Founder, Chemical Watch, UK
Panelists: 

  • Valentina Bertato, Policy Officer Sustainable Chemicals, REACH Sustainable Chemicals unit, EU-Commission
  • Jane Bremmer, Zero Waste Coordinator, National Toxics Network, Australia​
  • Steven Russell, Vice President, Plastics Division, American Chemistry Council, US​
  • Graham Houlder, Managing Director, SLOOP Consulting b.v. and Project Coordinator for the CEFLEX Initiative

11:00–11:30 COFFEE AND NETWORKING

11:30–13:30 DEBATE
Can product stewardship replace regulation? Case nanomaterials

Concept:
How to regulate nanomaterials has stayed on the policy agenda already for years. The legislation to control nanomaterials vary across countries and policy sectors: They may be covered by the existing legislation,alternative lyspecific rules had been developed for them or they stay unregulated. However the general perception is, that the chemicals legislation is not yet robust enough to manage nanomaterials. What is the role of industry product stewardship in this situation? How can companies demonstrate what due diligence concretely means in this situation? Can workers and consumers have the confidence that the use of nanomaterials is safe without explicit requirements for testing and assessment?

Moderator: Roger Drew, Toxicologist, ToxConsult Ltd, Australia

Debaters:​

  • David Azoulay, Managing Attorney, CIEL, Switzerland​
  • David Warheit, Technical Fellow − Toxicology and Risk Assessment, The Chemours Company, US

13:30–13:45 Concluding remarks of the second day and closing​:

  • Jukka Malm, Deputy Executive Director, ECHA

13:45–14:30 LUNCH​

14:45 Bus to offsite visit

15:15–16:30 Offsite visit at ECHA

16:30 Bus leaves from ECHA

17:00 Bus stops at city centre and after that continues to the airport

18:00 Bus at the airport

 

There might be changes to the programme.

 

Helsinki Chemicals Forum 2017 Helsinki Chemicals Forum 2016

 

 

 

Helsinki Chemicals Forum is a key networking event held yearly in Helsinki, Finland.