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Originally published as Covington E-Alert on October 23, 2012

On October 17, 2012, the European Commission presented a proposal that would limit the consumption of food crop biofuels and bioliquids in Europe.1 The proposal is intended to respond to allegations that food crop biofuels and bioliquids result in higher world food prices and indirect land…

Originally published as Covington E-Alert on September 17, 2012

Commission Regulation No. 658/20071 (the “Penalties Regulation”), as recently amended by Commission Regulation No. 488/2012,2 empowers the European Commission to impose financial penalties in relation to medicinal products approved through the centralised procedure. No financial penalties have yet been imposed, but the situation may change following…

Article originally published in European Pharmaceutical Contractor, September  2012

Although at first sight the rules that govern the distinction between medical devices and medicines in the EU allow for a direct and systematic approach, borderline determinations are, in practice, often difficult and the rules lack logical rigour

The European Commission is expected to publish proposals…

Originally published as Covington E-Alert on August 1st, 2012

On 17 July, the European Commission released the long-awaited proposal for a Regulation on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use (the Proposal). The future regulation will replace the Clinical Trials Directive 2001/20/EC, the revision of which has been advocated by the pharmaceutical industry, academia,…

Originally published as Covinton E-Alert on May 25, 2012

On 16 May 2012, the European Commission adopted the much delayed list of permitted general health claims (Permitted List) for foods after scrutiny of the list by the European Parliament and the Council ended on 27 April 2012. The Permitted List contains just 222 health claims…

Originally published as Covington E-Alert on March 1st, 2012

Today the European Commission published its long awaited proposal for the revision of the so-called Transparency Directive. The Directive lays down procedural guarantees for the systems that regulate the pricing and reimbursement (“P&R”) of medicines in the thirty EU and EEA Member States. The revision aims…

Article originally published in EuroWatch on August 15, 2011

The Council of the European Union has adopted a position at First Reading on a proposal for a Regulation on Biocidal Products that would impose new requirements on goods treated with biocidal products (“Council First Reading”).1 The new rules would apply to a wide variety of consumer goods, such as furniture and other wood products, packaging, electronic equipment, plastic materials, paper and tissue products, absorbent hygiene products, apparel, paints, and kitchen accessories, and are likely to have a significant impact on goods imported into the European Union or European Economic Area.

The Council First Reading would significantly change the EU regulatory framework for materials (i.e., articles, mixtures, and substances) treated with or incorporating biocidal products. On the one hand, the new rules would limit the scope of the strict requirements that apply to biocidal products to only those materials that have a primary biocidal purpose. On the other hand, however, they would also create a new category of rules for all materials that intentionally incorporate or have been treated with biocidal products (so-called “treated articles”) even if such materials do not have a primary biocidal purpose.
Continue Reading Upcoming EU Requirements on Goods Treated with Biocidal Substances

Article originally published in the Life Sciences Handbook Cross-border in 2011 

During the past ten years, many stakeholders have expressed an interest in the availability of biologically derived medicines authorised on the basis of previously authorised biological refer­ence products, that is, on the basis of a truncated dossier that includes a robust showing of similarity…

Article originally published in the In Vitro Diagnostics: The Complete Regulatory Guide (Chapter (8) with permission from FDLI), 2010

I. Introduction

This chapter discusses the European Union (EU) regulation of in vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical devices, covering both pre- and postmarket regulatory requirements. In order to understand these rules and the manner in which they…

Article originally published in EURALex in October 2008

The reprocessing of medical devices has been an increasing industrial practice since the late 1970s. While reprocessing of some medical devices has taken place within hospitals for many years, the market for professional third-party reprocessing service providers has developed during the last decade due to financial pressures…