The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a recommendation on balancing nanotechnologies benefits and risks to public health and the environment at the Assembly’s 2013 spring session held in Strasbourg, France. This recent activity in the Council of Europe has been followed by NIA, which has now written a public briefing on nanotechnology and the Council of Europe
“While industries always take the lion’s share of responsibility for communicating the benefits of their products on the market […] the current risk-centric debates on nanomaterials have also created a strong responsibility for governments to wade in and support nanotechnology’s innovative power”, said NIA Director General Steffi Friedrichs in a recent article
The NANoREG project held its Kick-off Meeting on 13 May 2013; according to NIA Director General Steffi Friedrichs, it is “an important project for the nanotechnology community” as its main emphasis is on “regulatory relevant test only, with a view to be agreeing on standard operating procedures for the characterisation, measurement and testing of nanomaterials”
NIA has talked about the problems industry faces from nanomaterial registry schemes across Europe. Dr Steffi Friedrichs, NIA Director-General, made the comments in the ChemicalWatch article, EU Commission finalises nano registry tender
The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) has been quoted in an article entitled EU nano group debates REACH annex options. These comments are related to a proposal to change ‘compliance for nanomaterials’
Comments made by stakeholder groups on ‘the draft methodology for the identification and assessment of substances for a potential restriction under RoHS 2’ have been published by Environment Agency Austria. The Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) was one of these groups; it urged the agency ‘to remove a general reference that categorises all nanomaterials as “substances of highest concern”’
In an interview with Pan-European Networks, published on the Horizon 2020 Projects platform, NIA highlights the pivotal role Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can play within the upcoming Horizon 2020 framework
In its comments on the Study for the Review of the List of Restricted Substances under RoHS 2 Directive (commissioned by DG Environment (EC); conducted by Environment Agency Austria), the NIA urged Environment Agency Austria to remove a general reference that categorises all nanomaterials as ‘substances of highest concern’
The EC's JRC has released a technical report on the 'Safety Issues and Regulatory Challenges of Nanomaterials' symposium it held in May 2012. The event was organised by the JRC-IHCP along with several EU FP7 projects and 'presented the latest scientific progress and policy developments in the field of nanosafety'
The NIA has responded to the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) request for information on nano-silver. Its main suggestion is for the agency 'to avoid redundancy' by taking into account 'all the results of the OECD'
The EC hosted a workshop at the end of January 2013 'to present and discuss the main findings of the Second Regulatory Review on Nanomaterials'. Many of the presentations from it have been made available to the public
A message supporting the EC's Communication on the second Regulatory Review of Nanomaterials has been published by multiple industry associations. In it they back the EC's conclusion that 'the current European regulatory framework, providing some clarifications of the requirements, adequately covers nanomaterials, is science-based and proportionate'
Discussions and presentations held as part of the NIA’s recent symposium, Mandatory Reporting Schemes & Databases of Nanomaterials, have been reported on by a leading chemicals industry periodical
Talks on regulations and developments relevant to nanoscale silver were given by the NIA at an event recently. The event, which the NIA co-hosted along with the Nanosilver Network, saw 40 international participants attend
NanoLYSE (Nanoparticles in Food: Analytical Methods for Detection and Characterisation) has recently published the fifth edition of its bi-annual newsletter. It states that ‘2012 has been an exciting year’ for the project as many milestones were successfully reached.
The NIA has responded to the EC's public consultation, Addressing the New Challenges for Risk Assessment. This paper was jointly authored by members of the EC's SCENIHR, SCCS, and SCHER committees
Comments by the NIA on the recent 'nano-patch' proposal for the EC's REACH regulation have been featured in an article by Chemical Watch. The report, entitled DG Enterprise, industry deny REACH unable to regulate nanomaterials, also features reactions to the proposal from the EC's Enterprise and Environment directorates (DG)
The NIA's David Carlander has written an article about the association's opinion of the EC's second regulatory review on nanomaterials. Published in a leading chemicals industry periodical and entitled The legal framework is there, the piece highlights the NIA's broadly positive feelings toward the recent review
The NIA has issued a response to the Danish Ministry of the Environment following its announcement that it plans to create a national database of nanotechnology-related products. The NIA 'anticipates that the provided comments will be considered...during...revision of the chemical law'
The Director General of NIA, Steffi Friedrichs, recently commented that she had been "positively surprised" with the state of Iran's nanotechnology industry. The Director General had been invited to participate at the recent Iran Nano Commercialization Forum as a 'senior expert'
