This week, my colleague, Dr. Jane Vergnes, and I sat down with Bjorn Hansen, Executive Director of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).  As our listeners may know, ECHA is the European Union (EU) regulatory agency charged with managing the scientific, technical, and administrative aspects of chemical management programs in the EU, including the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the Classification, Labeling, and Packaging Regulation (CLP), the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR), the Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC), and a definition of substances of very high concern (SVHC).  Bjorn leads approximately 600 employees, many of whom are located in Helsinki, where ECHA’s offices are located.  In addition to speaking about the imminent end of the transition period between the EU and Great Britain under Brexit, which has been no small endeavor, Bjorn discusses the very recent issuance of the EU Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment.  Issued on October 14, 2020, this new Strategy includes some 50 initiatives intended to complement the European Green Deal announced last December, under which the EU has committed to no net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

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