The ceremony took place at National Institute of Environmental Sciences in Nanjing, China on 18th September, with representatives from Unilever R&D China, Regulatory Affairs China and the Unilever Safety and Environmental Assurance (SEAC) teams. Under the MoU, several strategic plans have been set up and initiated, including a cooperation agreement on environmental exposure modelling in China in collaboration with Unilever China Consumer Product Safety Collaboration Centre and SEAC. This Memorandum of understanding marks the first agreement for a foreign company in China.
In addition, a joint international scientific workshop on next-generation environmental safety science was held in Tianjin, China, in which over 40 participants were actively involved, including chemical regulators from MEE and environmental scientists from across a number of key international organizations and top Chinese universities.
We are confident that this collaboration with a series of science-based regulatory engagements under the MoU will support the development and adoption of advanced scientific approaches to environmental safety assessment and regulatory management of chemicals in China, as well as pave the way for our sustainable innovation and growth agenda in China.
Julia Fentem, Global Head of Safety, Environment and Regulatory Sciences stated: “The safety and regulatory science leads in Unilever have collaborated closely with academic and government groups in China for almost 15 years – with a shared goal to use advanced science and new methods to protect human health. It is exciting to see those collaborations now expanding into strengthening environmental protection from chemical exposures by applying “next generation” safety science.”
While in Tianjin, the SEAC team joined the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Asia-Pacific Meeting from 21st - 25th September. Over 1000 leading scientists from around the world shared and discussed cutting-edge environmental science. Unilever scientists led sessions on non-animal “next generation” science approaches for chemical management, with over 30 speakers and 100 attendees. We shared Unilever’s scientific approaches to ensuring the safety of our ingredients and products using the best available, non-animal, safety science.
During these intense two weeks, we had the incredible opportunity to witness firsthand the strength of the Chinese scientific community. We are looking forward to forging strong connections, harnessing their world-class expertise to collaboratively work towards our shared vision of enhanced environmental protection in China.