|
Dear friends, colleagues and delegates,
in the Memorandum of Understanding for COST Action E37 a series of highly demanding objectives were adopted and technical benefits anticipated. The main overall objective was 'to concentrate
on the contribution of wood durability to sustainability through the development of systems for quality assurance and performance classification of modified wood and wood products as alternatives
to wood treated with traditional preservatives'. Perhaps the most important technical benefit to be achieved was to increase the cost-effective use of components manufactured from sustainably
produced European timber, wood-based fibre, and recycled raw materials. COST Action E37 has concentrated on developing the scientific and technical basis necessary to achieve these aims.
Independent evaluation of the work of COST Action E37 at its completion has commended the Action very highly in the achievement of its objectives.
Organised under three Working Groups of:
Principles, Performance, and Properties
the programme of the Action addressed each of its specific scientific and technical topics through 12 Workshops culminating in the Final Conference in Bordeaux, France on "Socio-economic
perspectives of treated wood for the common European market". The Final Conference set out to address a series of specific themes being an industry perspective on the changing face of wood protection, market challenges for new technologies, sustainability
benefits of wood protection, service life prediction and updates in the adoption of wood modification and heat treatments. A special session was devoted to environmental risk assessment
of wood preservatives.
The MC would like to acknowledge the constant support of
Günter Siegel, the former COST Scientific Secretary to the Action, who made the Final Conference happen!
The Chairman and the Management Committee of the Action wish to express their great gratitude to Vice-Chairman
Prof Dr Joris Van Acker who has personally compiled the Proceedings of the Final Conference for publication.
More over they would like to acknowledge the Chairmen of the three Working Groups for their scientific management of all workshops and meetings:
WG 1 Principles: Ed SUTTIE, UK,
WG 2 Performance: Andreas Otto RAPP, DE, and
WG 3 Properties: Bartłomiej MAZELA, PL
Finally, I would like to thank all participants of Workshops, Working Group meetings, TFPC meetings, the Round Robin test, Training Schools and STS-Missions for the manifold contributions
you provided to the outcomes of COST Action E37.
This web site will be available for some time; it will be updated with breaking news on regulatory decisions,
business developments, scientific findings and events which might be of interest for you dealing with wood protection.
Rolf-Dieter Peek
Chairman COST E37
Click on the Picture provided by Roland Gründlingerto see more
Click on the thumbs to find more pictures from previous workshops
|
|
Europe: Revision of the Biocidal Products Directive (BPD)
On 12 June 2009, the European Commission adopted a
proposal for a Regulation concerning the placing on the market and use of biocidal products
COM(2009) 267.
The proposed Regulation will repeal and replace the current
Directive 98/8/EC
concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market.
The revision of the Biocides Directive intends to remedy a number of weaknesses that were identified during the
first eight years of its implementation, to anticipate problems with the upcoming authorisation and mutual
recognition procedure, and to update and adapt the instrument to recent policy developments.
Short summary of the most relevant changes:
The Directive is turned into a Regulation. As a result, there will be no need for a transposition period or for
national transposition measures, which is also expected to ensure more harmonised implementation of the regulatory
framework in the Member States.
The scope is amended to cover also materials treated with biocides. The current directive only covers the
biocidal products and therefore, the import of articles treated with biocides that are not allowed in the EU could
continue.
It is now proposed that all articles or materials must be treated only with biocidal products authorised for that
purpose in at least one Member State.
The proposed article 47 requires that all treated articles or materials shall be labelled with the following information:
the name of all active substances that were used to treat the article or materials or that were incorporated in
the articles or materials;
where relevant, the biocidal property attributed to treated articles or materials;
the authorisation number of all biocidal products that were used for the treatmentmor were incorporated in the
articles or materials;
any hazard statement or precautionary statement set out in the authorisation for the biocidal product.
The labeling shall be clearly visible, easily legible and appropriately durable.
This proposal would mean that all articles treated with a biocide (EU produced and imported) must be labeled.
The procedures for mutual recognition have been reworked and clarified;
The data protection system is simplified.
The proposal will now be discussed within the European Parliament and the European Council of Ministers.
Source: WEI WEI doc. 3324 - Brussels, 15 June 2009.
Directive 98/8/EC BPD - new deadline 14 May 2013
This proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive to amend Directive 98/8/EC of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing
of biocidal products on the market is submitted following a report forwarded by the Commission to
the European Parliament and the Council on the progress with the 10-year work programme for the evaluation of active substances
used in biocidal products.
The experience so far with the review programme indicates that the evaluation of a regular active substance dossier never takes
less than three years, even under optimum conditions, and the average time required is in the order of four years.
The Directive, as it is now, does not allow for such a period, but requires that the market be fully harmonised by 14 May 2010.
Article 12 of the Directive, on data protection, will need to be adjusted as well to the new deadline of the review programme,
because otherwise there is a risk that the information submitted for the purposes of the Directive from 14 May 2010 until the
proposed new deadline for the completion of the review programme - that is, on 14 May 2013, will not be
protected.
Read more here
Europe: Creosote and the Biocidal Products Directive (BPD)
The Swedish Chemicals Inspectorate
KEMI has presented its draft Final Competent Authorities Report and
has distributed it to the European Commission and the Member States. A 60–day commenting period has now
started. The deadline for Member States to comment is set at 24 June 2009.
An inclusion of creosote in Annex I of Directive 98/8/EC as an active substance for use as a wood preservative,
product type 8 may be considered, subject to the following conditions:
1. The active substance creosote, as manufactured, must comply with the criteria for Grade B or Grade C as
specified in European Standard EN 13991:2003
2. Creosote may only be used for uses explicitly mentioned in EC Regulation 1907/2006 (Reach) Annex XVII No. 31
following authorisation of products in accordance with Directive 98/8/EC, and in accordance with conditions of
authorisation.
3. All possible measures to protect workers, including down–stream users, from exposure during treatment and
handling of treated wood must be taken according to the Marketing and Use Directive 2001/90/EC, and also the
Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive 2004/37/EC.
4. In view of the risks identified for the soil and aquatic compartments, appropriate risk mitigation measures must
be taken to protect these compartments. For instance, labels and/or safety data sheets of products authorised shall
indicate that treated timber must be stored after treatment under shelter or on impermeable hard standing to
prevent direct losses to soil and that any losses must be collected for re–use or disposal.
A copy of the proposed decision can be obtained from the
WEI Secretariat.
Source: WEI Newsletter Issue 2/09 - Brussels, May 2009 .
(Find earlier information about the regulation of Creosotes in the ...
Archive ...
Collection of earlier links of interest
Europe: Industrial Emissions – Wood preservation
The European Union is working on a Proposal for a
Directive on industrial emissions. The Proposal recasts seven existing Directives including the current
International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) Directive. The draft Directive lays down measures rules designed
to prevent or, where that is not practicable, to reduce emissions in the air, water and land for listed industrial activities.
The European Commission adopted a proposal in December 2007. In this proposal the Commission proposes to include
wood preservation companies with a production capacity exceeding 75 m3 per day. The text has since then be
discussed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. Some Members of the European Parliament introduced
amendments to lower the threshold for wood preservation from 75 m3 to 50 m3 per day. The draft Council conclusions
indicate that the Council of Ministers does not support the lowering of the threshold and wishes to maintain the
75 m3.
A copy of the draft Council conclusions can be obtained from the
WEI Secretariat.
Source: WEI Newsletter Issue 2/09 - Brussels, May 2009.
(Find earlier information about the IPPC Directive in the ...
Archive ...
Collection of earlier links of interest
Europe: prEN 15228 – Structural timber preservative treated against biological attack
CEN has approved the final draft of prEN 15228 on
structural timber preservative treated against biological attack. This European Standard specifies general
requirements for structural timber that has been treated with preservatives against biological attack. It also
specifies requirements for the evaluation of conformity and marking of preservative treated timber products when
they are placed on the market. Treatments which include a biocide are covered by this standard. It does not provide
details of which preservative treatments are necessary for a particular type of structural timber product to
achieve a required service life, as regional climatic differences and prevalent biological agents would need to be
taken into account for that purpose.
A copy of the Standard can be obtained from the
WEI Secretariat.
Source: WEI Newsletter Issue 2/09 - Brussels, May 2009.
Standards for treated wood? AWPA provides clarity in a confusing marketplace
Birmingham, Alabama (MMD Newswire) March 6, 2009 -- Have you been confused by recent information about treated wood standards?
Several statements regarding the efficacy of wood preservatives containing sub-micron sized copper particles (often referred to as
“micronized“ copper) have been released by various wood preservative manufacturers. Most of these press releases refer
to AWPA Standards, and as a result, AWPA has received many inquiries about these preservatives. Based on assertions made in the
press releases, it seems that a large number of people now assume that the “micronized“ wood preservative systems have
been evaluated and approved by AWPA. Unfortunately, these assumptions are not true.
Read more here
Search Chemicals
Compendium of Pesticide Common Names
|
