Chairman of the Committee Mr. Reiner Hengstmann (Global Head Social & Environmental Affairs, PUMA)

Subsequent to the first meeting, organised in Brussels in July 2008 and some important political deliberations at FESI Board level, it was formally agreed to establish the committee, composed of both major sports corporations as well as of national federations, which would concentrate its efforts in three major strategic aspects:

1) REACH: Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances
- This new law entered into force on 1 June 2007 and involves the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. REACH is a new European Community Regulation, which focuses upon chemicals and stresses the importance of their safe use (EC 1907/2006).
- REACH aims to improve the means in which human health and the environment are protected, attained through earlier and more efficient identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances.
- Nevertheless, REACH acknowledges the innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry.

How will this be achieved?

- The REACH Regulation aims to give “greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. Manufacturers and importers will be required to gather information on the properties of their chemical substances, which will allow their safe handling, and to register the information in a central database run by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki.”
- REACH provisions will be phased-in over 11 years.
- The Regulation also calls for the progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals when suitable alternatives have been identified.

2) Waste Framework Directive: Directive 75/442/EEC

Waste Disposal Directive

- It is prohibited for Member States to be involved in the abandonment, dumping or uncontrolled disposal of waste.
- Member States must promote waste prevention, recycling and processing for re-use. They must inform the Commission of any draft rules concerning the use of products, which may give rise to technical difficulties and excessive disposal costs.
- Member States must encourage the reduction of certain wastes, treatment of wastes for recycling or re-use, the use of energy from certain waste, and the use of natural resources which may be replaced by recovered materials.

How will this be achieved?
- Cooperation and transparency between Member States is vital in order to establish a productive waste disposal network using the best available technologies.
- A "polluter pays" principle has been established whereby the cost of disposing of waste must be borne by the holder who has waste handled by a waste collector or an undertaking and/or by previous holders or the producer of the product giving rise to the waste.

3) Carbon footprint: This, in general terms, measures the impact that all economical activities have on the overall environment, and in particular on climate change, whereas it relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in every company day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc

The ultimate aim of this committee is to properly inform, educate and coach the sporting goods industry on new European legislation through information sessions / conferences and to keep the respective policy makers up to date with the sporting goods industry’s specific requirements.