On the 6th and 7th of October, the first meeting of the new CEN Technical Committee on bio-based products will take place in Brussels.<\/p>\n
The CEN Technical Board approved in May 2011 the creation of a new CEN Technical Committee, CEN\/TC 411 “Bio-based products”. The new Technical Committee has been created following the acceptance by CEN of two European Commission mandates.<\/b><\/p>\n
Within the framework of Mandate M\/430<\/a>, CEN\/TC 19<\/a> “Gaseous and liquid fuels, lubricants and related products of petroleum, synthetic and biological origin” and CEN\/TC 249<\/a> “Plastics” are developing standards on bio-lubricants and bio-polymers. In March 2011, CEN received two new standardization mandates on bio-based products from the European Commission.<\/p>\n Mandate M\/492<\/a> asks for the development of a standard with several parts covering horizontal aspects of bio-based products such as terminology, sampling, bio-based content, application of life-cycle analysis, sustainability of biomass used and certification of bio-based products. Mandate M\/491<\/a> asks for the development of a European Standard for bio-surfactants and another one for bio-solvents covering issues such as product functionality and performance, impact on greenhouse gas emissions and bio-based content.<\/p>\n The CEN Technical Board decided to allocate the responsiblity for developing the European Standard on bio-surfactants to CEN\/TC 276<\/a> “Surface active agents”. The new CEN\/TC 411″Bio-based products” will carry out the work requested by Mandate M\/492 and the work on bio-solvents requested by Mandate M\/491.<\/p>\n If you are interested in getting involved in the work of CEN\/TC 411 and to participate in its first meeting please contact your National Standardization body. European and International associations also have the possibility to ask for a liaison status and if accepted to participate as observers in the Technical Committee.<\/p>\n