IRG Newsletter 1205

05/2005 07 December

Member News

Regulatory News

Europe: National deviations from Directive 76/769
On the joint cases Cindu Chemicals and Arch Timber Protection against the Dutch Administrative Court for Trade and Industry the European Court of Justice followed the opinion of the Advocate General that the Directive on the Marketing & Use of Dangerous Substances does not allow a Member State to lay down additional conditions for the placing on the market and use of a biocidal product the active substance of which is included in Annex I to that directive.

The Court of Justice ruled that:

"Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations, as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 94/60/EC of 20 December 1994, must be interpreted as not permitting a Member State to impose on the placing on the market and use of a biocidal product the active substance of which is included in Annex I thereto conditions other than those which the directive lays down, without prejudice to the application of other relevant Community provisions laying down specific conditions for that product."
(From WEI-IEO Doc. 3173 - September 2005).
Read the full text here

Business News

Vacancy Announcement - Senior/Lecturer in Wood Products Science
The challenging position of a Senior Lecturer or Lecturer in Wood Products Science has been created as part of the repositioning of the Department of Forest and Wood Science at Stellenbosch University, SA, as well as the recent re-packaging of the undergraduate Wood Product Science curriculum. In addition to a study of wood properties and the main aspects of mechanical processing of wood, the curriculum provides a specific focus on the design and construction of wooden furniture and wood in the built environment.
Obtain the prescribed application form on the Stellenbosch University homepage.
Read the vacancy announcement

Prof T Rypstra
Stellenbosch University,
Private Bag X1,
Matieland 7602,
Fax: +27(0)21 808 3603

Scientific News

People in the News

Bill Hinkley, 60, died Monday, September 12, 2005
at his home in Tallahassee. A memorial service was held at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, September 16th at the Miccosukee Land Co-op Community Center. A scholarship fund has been established in Bill's name, at his request. Bill Hinkley was the driving force behind the research on CCA treated wood that was conducted by Drs. Helena Solo-Gabriele and Timothy Townsend at the Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida in Gainesville.
Read more about Bill here

Prof Dr Kazimierz Lutomski
from the Agricultural University of Poznan, has passed away on 6 October 2005 at an age of 76. Prof Lutomski was an IRG member between 1977 and 1988.

Carol Lewis of Cordova Tennessee
has been named by the Forest Products Society Executive Board to replace Executive Vice President Arthur Brauner, who will retire on January 1, 2006.

Read the press release

IRG Secretariat News

IRG 37 in Tromsø, Norway

The IRG 37 Organizing Committee is proud to welcome all Members and Sponsors to Norway and Tromsø for the 37th Annual Meeting on 18 - 22 June 2006. The meeting will be held at Rica Ishavshotel, which is located in the city centre close to the harbour.
The invitation and registration package is now available on the IRG website.
Please note that the Meeting will be held during the peak tourist season in Northern Norway, so you are kindly advised to book your accommodation and travel arrangements early.

Invoicing 2006 - new fees structure
The invoices for fees due in 2006 will be dispatched by regular mail in a couple weeks.

Please note the important decisions by the Plenary at IRG 36:

The fee for regular members has been raised to SEK 900 and for student members to SEK 450.
The fee will be waived for members born in 1936 or earlier being members for more than 20 years.
All fees will be inclusive of the documents CD-ROM and on-line access to the Compendium (all IRG documents issued since 1969) on the website.

IRG Directory 2006 - please check your entry
The 2006 edition of the International Directory of Members and Sponsors is under preparation. A draft will be circulated to all Members and Sponsors soon.
Please remember to check your entry and report back to the Secretariat by return if there are any changes.

Papers for IRG 37 - deadline 15 April 2006
The deadlines for IRG 37 papers is 15 April 2006. Please prepare papers in accordance with the Guidelines for the preparation of an IRG Document.
There is no need to submit abstracts in advance.
Poster abstracts, however, must be submitted in MS Word format by 15 April 2006.

Ron Cockcroft Award - extended deadline for applications
The RCA is intended primarily to assist post-graduate research students and active scientists, who, for financial reasons might otherwise be unable to attend an IRG conference. It is available to members and non-members.
Applications for an award shall be submitted in writing to the IRG Secretariat by 15 January 2006.
The conditions for the RCA and the application form are available in document Conditions for the Ron Cockcroft Award

Gareth Williams Scholarship Award, sponsored by Arch Chemicals Inc
This award is dedicated and honouring the late Dr Gareth Williams, a respected scientist in the field of wood preservation, who was an active IRG member since 1998, Section leader and Chair of Section 3 (Wood Protecting Chemicals) during 2001-2004.
The scholarship award will be given during the IRG Annual Meetings, at the closing ceremony, during the period of 2005-2009, by Arch Wood Protection (US). The scholarship will worth USD 1 000 plus a plaque and will be awarded to a student participant at the IRG Annual Meeting for the best oral or poster presentation, see also the GWSA guidelines.
The first award was honoured Ms Tripti Singh, Ensis, New Zealand, during the IRG 36 Meeting in Bangalore, India.

IRG Travel Awards
Younger scientists, IRG members as well as non-members, may apply for an IRG Travel Award. This award is intended for short-term scientific missions and the maximum award is SEK 12.500 (approximately USD 1.800), see the Application for IRG Travel Awards for criteria and application form. There is no particular deadline for applications.

The IRG Compendium
On-line access to the Compendium is presently under preparation and will be available for members in 2006.
A DVD version of the Compendium will also be available and can be ordered in connection with paying the 2006 dues.

Nominations 2006
This is a reminder to Members to nominate candidates to the Executive Council in 2006. Three new members on the Executive Council will be elected, two representing members and one representing sponsors.
The detailed procedure is described in the Nomination Procedure for Officers and nominations must be made on the appropriate form to the Chairman of the Nominations Sub-Committee via the IRG Secretariat. Only valid nominations received by 31 March 2006 will be considered.

Sponsor the IRG e-Newsletter!
IRG regular sponsors and members' institutes are kindly invited to sponsor the production of the IRG e-Newsletter in order to cover the costs involved for production of the same.
The IRG e-Newsletter is scheduled for six issues per year, and for each issue a sponsor is welcome. The fee for sponsoring the e-Newsletter is USD 300 (SEK 2.100) in 2005. The e-Newsletter sponsor will then get the company/institute logo on the front page and a link to the company/institute website.
For sponsoring the first four issues of the e-Newsletter, Janssen Pharmaceutica, CSI, US Borax, and Arch Chemicals are kindly acknowledged. Please contact the IRG Secretariat, if you are interested in sponsoring the e-Newsletter.

Legal Information
Read legal information here

Editorial
If you have information related to wood protection being of general interest for Regular Members, Student Members or IRG Sponsors, please email to the NiB editor with the name of the web page and the URL.