Committees

General Assembly (GA)

The General Assembly (GA) is composed of one senior representative from each member company and carries the statutory decision-making power of the Association. The GA oversees and manages all other EPRA committees and their activities, develops industry strategies and is responsible for setting the annual budget. The two main standing committees of the Association are the Regulatory & Safety Committee (RSC) and the Substitution Threats & Opportunities Group (STG). Where appropriate, the GA can appoint temporary bodies to oversee particular initiatives, with a recent example being a Steering Committee to manage the implementation of a ROADMAP to highlight the inert characteristics of fully-cured phenolic matrices.

The GA also oversees the management of a secure process for the collection and analysis of industry statistics, which are then distributed in an aggregated form in full compliance with anti-trust requirements. These enable the tracking of market trends and provide important input for the other committees.
 

Regulatory & Safety Committee (RSC)

The Regulatory and Safety Committee (RSC) brings together HSE and regulatory affairs managers and professionals from member companies and is responsible for managing the health, safety, environmental (HSE) and legislative issues surrounding phenolic resins and the raw materials used in their production.

What does it do?

  • Maintains a watching brief on all Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) and legislative issues and developments affecting phenolic resins and the raw materials used in their production.
  • Develops a phenolic industry position on how to manage such issues.
  • Shares HSE best practice in the manufacture, handling, transportation and use of phenolic resins and their raw materials.
  • Maintains working relationships with other chemical industry groups with an interest in phenolic resins or their raw materials.
  • Acts as the mouthpiece for EPRA members on HSE and legislative matters.

How is it constituted?

  • The Regulatory and Safety Committee (RSC) is made up of HSE and regulatory affairs managers and professionals from EPRA member companies.
  • The RSC Chair is appointed by the EPRA General Assembly from the RSC membership.
  • RSC sub-committees or working groups may be formed on an as required basis to address specific industry issues.
  • The working of the RSC is supported by representatives of Anthesis-Caleb Group, who carry out a watching brief on European regulatory and legislative changes in the HSE area and update members at meetings and by e-mail.
  • Anthesis-Caleb also prepare draft briefing notes on major issues, organise sub groups, issue minutes of meetings etc.
  • Administrative, organisational, data handling and statistical analysis support is provided by Treuhandburo.
  • The RSC meets 3 times per year

In what type of areas is it active?

  • REACH: Registrations, Evaluations, Authorisations, CoRAP, RMOA’s, SVHC, Life Cycle Analysis,  Safety Data Sheets and Exposure Scenario’s.
  • Classification and Labelling: CLP and GHS, product labelling, packaging and handling.
  • HSE: Developing and sharing best practice.
  • Explosion Guidance (ATEX regulations)
  • Polymer BREF (Best Available Technique Reference)

 

Substitution Threats and Opportunities Group (STG)

The Substitution Threats and Opportunities Group (STG) is made up of product managers and regulatory affairs specialists from a sub-set of member companies and provides an in-depth analysis of the factors influencing trends in the phenolic resin market developments, with particular focus on the performance properties and market positioning of competitive products. This process reveals both the threats to existing uses of phenolic resins and also opportunities which may be emerging. The STG carries out assessments on alternative technologies and develops technical papers highlighting the safety and technical benefits of phenolic resins.

The STG is specifically taking the lead on implementing the ROADMAP to highlight the inert characteristics of phenolic resins in a wide variety of applications and is working with downstream user associations to ensure that these benefits are communicated throughout the relevant supply-chains.

 

Issues specific working groups are formed on an ad hoc basis.

Secretarial and administrative support is provided to EPRA by Dr. Nausch Treuhandbüro

Technical, scientific and regulatory support is provided by Anthesis UK https://anthesisgroup.com