Mr. Greg Garramone, USEU Brussels, Briefs Finns on the Challenges of the EU’s New Chemical Regulatory Regime for U.S. Companies

September 21-22, 2009

Mr. Greg Garramone, USEU Brussels

Mr. Greg Garramone, USEU Brussels, Briefs Finns on the Challenges of the EU’s New Chemical Regulatory Regime for U.S. Companies

Mr. Greg Garramone, Regulatory, Trade and Consumer Affairs Officer from the United States Mission to the European Union USEU in Brussels, visited Finland September 21-22. Mr. Garramone was one of the keynote speakers at an AmCham Finland and ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) organized seminar attended by Finnish chemicals professionals and ECHA top management.

At the Chemicals seminar Mr. Garramone’s presentation addressed U.S-EU regulatory cooperation and he talked about the challenges posed by REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) challenges for U.S. companies. For example, REACH imposes extensive additional testing and reporting requirements (to be phased-in over a number of years) on producers and downstream users of chemicals, impacting virtually all industrial sectors, including the majority of U.S. manufactured goods exported to the EU. His presentation was followed by a lively discussion that showed that European companies face similar challenges.

Mr. Garramone also visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the transatlantic development dialogue and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to discuss GMOs.