Event has been postponed due to the current uncertain situation · New date will be announced after travel restrictions are lifted.
CTA – Chromium Trioxide Authorization Symposium
Due to the current uncertain situation, we regret that we must postpone the Chromium Trioxide Authorization Symposium that was planned for Thursday 19 March. We will announce a new date for the event after travel restrictions are lifted. Information on Chromium Trioxide Authorization for the rotogravure industry is available from ERA or from Kaspar Walter.
According to the EU REACH legislation chromium trioxide was listed as a substance of high concern, and thus was banned by 21 September 2017 (“sunset date”) unless its further use would be authorized by the EU Commission.
For our industry chromium trioxide is indispensable in cylinder plating, as an alternative to replace chromium trioxide is still not in sight. Currently ca. 1,2 million gravure cylinders are produced annually in Europe, which production depends on the use of chromium trioxide.
Many other industries such as automotive and aviation are also dependent on chromium trioxide: every year 10 000 tons of chromium trioxide are used in Europe. Only 170 tons are for the gravure industry, i.e. the share of our industry in the annual use in Europe is less than 2 %.
After a long and complex authorization process the submission of the Chromium Trioxide Authorization Consortium (CTACSub), which covers our industry as downstream user, was recommended by the competent European Chemical Agency for approval with an expiration date by 21 September 2024.
Unfortunately, the EU Commission has withdrawn its approval from February last year following a motion by the European Parliament to reject the CTAC submission. Thus, almost ten years since the beginning of the authorization process, the final decision on the CTAC submission is still pending.
It is still unclear when the EU Commission will take its final decision. However, a negative decision seems to be unlikely as this would have fatal consequences for many industries.
In any case, our industry is allowed to further use chromium trioxide until a final decision will be taken.
And for the time beyond the expiration date in 2024 a new submission will be prepared by our industry.
At our Chromium Trioxide Authorization symposium the procedure of the authorization process and a new submission, as well as the technical measurements to be taken by our industry and the data needed to guarantee the authorization will be discussed by experts in detail.
We invite you all to come to Munich and to contribute, so that our industry will successfully obtain the authorization to secure the healthy continuity of gravure in future. The admission to the symposium is free.
Date
A new date will be announced after travel restrictions are lifted.
Venue
NH Collection Hotel
Arnulfstrasse 2
80335 Munich, Germany
phone +49 89 5453 0
visit website
Programme
10:30 › Registration and Welcome Coffee
11:00 › Morning Session
- Welcome and Introduction – James Siever, ERA
- Authorization Process for Chromium Trioxide under REACH – Dr Benedikt Fischer, Ramboll
- Status on the ongoing CTAC submission – Dr Benedikt Fischer, Ramboll
- Steps to be taken upon a final decision on CTAC – Dr Julian Rotter, Kaspar Walter
- Exposure Assessments and regulations – Rüdiger Kroggel, Müller-BBM
13:00 › Lunch
14:00 › Afternoon Session
- Beyond CTAC: the ChromiumXtend Initiative – Dr Julian Rotter, Kaspar Walter
- Downstream user survey – Dr Benedikt Fischer, Ramboll
- Defining a joint best practice for the gravure industry – Dr Julian Rotter, Kaspar Walter
- Insights from the chrome authorization at Hansgrohe SE – Christoph Tschaar, Hansgrohe SE
16:30 › End of the symposium
