On 28 and 29 November 2022 in Bali, Indonesia a closing event was held for European Union Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence Initiative (EU CBRN CoE) Project 61 SEACHEM – Sound Management of Chemicals and their Associated Wastes in Southeast Asia. NIM Legal Officer Thomas Brown participated in the closing event, presenting on VERTIC’s activities under Work Package 1. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the results of the project and plan for future activities in the region.

The purpose of EU CBRN CoE Project 61 is to address outstanding chemical safety and security issues in areas of legislation, prevention, detection, response and recovery. The project addresses not only the sound management of chemicals and their wastes, but also takes emerging chemical issues into account.

The five components of EU CBRN CoE Project 61 are:

  • Judicial reinforcement with respect to the sound management of chemicals and their wastes;
  • Enhanced capacity for prevention of chemical incidents including both safety and security aspects;
  • Enhanced capacity for the region’s mobile detection possibilities and chemical testing laboratories;
  • Measures to enhance the region’s preparedness and response capacity to chemical incidents;
  • Measures to enhance the region’s recovery capacity after a chemical incident.

The Project 61 consortium consists of international experts from Public Health England (PHE) (UK), Sustainable Criminal Justice Solutions (SCJS) (UK), the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) (Netherlands), the International Security and Emergency Management Institute (Slovakia) and VERTIC (UK).