Colipa tackles REACH and animal testing at assembly

The annual meeting of the European trade association will take place in Lucerne, Switzerland 14 - 16 May and encompasses members meetings along with a scientific and regulatory forum. Meetings for International Companies' Council (ICC) and Association Officers' Council members and occur on the 14 May before the meeting opens up to the public on May 15. ​ EU cosmetics legislation, REACH and animal testing ​ The public meeting kick starts with a morning session discussing scientific and research issues. Mr J Ioannidis from New England will present what promises to be a controversial talk entitled 'Why most published research findings are false' which will be followed by a discussion of toxicology studies and possible animal testing alternatives. The afternoon session will start with a discussion of Reach implementation led by Colipa's Ms M Coroama. Colipa's Director of Science and Research Dr Gerald Renner will then discuss the forthcoming technical and regulatory changes to the EU cosmetics legislation. A short presentation on the hot topics in Japan and the US will follow, led by Dr John Bailey from the American trade body the Personal Care Products Council and K Takano from Japan's Cosmetics Industry Association. Innovation within the industry ​ The third and final day of the meeting concentrates on the importance of innovation within the cosmetics industry. Ellen Raphael from Sense about Science - a UK-based charitable trust that responds to the misrepresentation of science to the public - will talk about the communication of innovation and new scientific ideas to the public. International Fragrance Association representative Yves de Chris will discuss innovation within the fragrance industry - evidently a hot topic at present as a number of the largest fragrance and flavour players have recently announced restructuring plans to concentrate on this area. Other subjects discussed over the morning seminar include innovation as a driver of sustainability and its role in creating trust in brand. The meeting finishes with a progress report from Colipa Chairman Odile de Silva about animal testing alternatives, an increasingly important topic as the ban on animal testing for cosmetics ingredients is fast approaching.