This year’s conference will be taking place at the Hilton London Heathrow (Terminal 4).
Following extensive regulatory developments over the past year, this year’s conference will be tackling four main areas: substances, the technical side of regulatory compliance and its impact, market access and sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). You can find a breakdown of the topic areas below.
Workshops will be incorporated into the conference programme.
Chemical based legislation is developing quickly, with multiple key developments either being implemented shortly or under key consideration.
Amongst other topics, speakers will give updates on:
- The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive update plans, which will trigger changes in responsibilities in how RoHS is managed. An overview of the European Union’s exemption process and the status of the exemptions currently under consideration.
- Per- or polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS): discussing the proposed EU REACH restriction and what this might mean for industry, as well as the US Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a) 7 PFAS reporting requirements. Other global PFAS requirements will also be discussed, including those affecting the UK and US states.
- The EU’s “Essential Uses” definition is developing, which has the potential to create a wholesale change in multiple legislative instruments in the EU. The timeline and potential impact of this will be outlined.
The conference will also involve workshops on these areas.
The UK has published the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Act: manufacturers of consumer connectable products will have to comply with the relevant obligations including minimum security requirements. The impact of this will be discussed, not only for ‘smart products’, but industry in a more general sense, and the key points of its requirements highlighted.
The impact of standards on demonstrating compliance will be discussed, with case studies on different product ranges, including hydrogen-related products.
Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) will be discussed. Workshops on the key impacts of Brexit on maintaining both EU and UK compliance and other topics are planned.
Amongst other topics, the following will be covered:
- The requirement for due diligence schemes is ever growing with requirements now in the Batteries Regulation, Critical Raw Materials Act and EU Taxonomy. Due diligence schemes will be discussed, including when they are required, their timelines and key requirements.
- The EU Battery Regulation is a step change from its previous directive, implementing a substantial number of additional requirements. The key points to keep in mind for equipment manufacturers using batteries shall be shared, including the requirement timelines and key considerations which should be actioned as soon as possible.
- The new EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) implements a host of requirements for applicable products which will be discussed, as well as the implications of these developments to industry.
