NEXT EVENT / BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA

17-18 April 2024

Annual Eastern Europe Regulatory Conference

Registration of Plant Protection Products

About the conference

Once again, we would like to invite manufacturers, local authorities and other stakeholders interested in exchanging information and learning about the legislative and strategic changes in the field of PPP to gather at this event in Bratislava. The conference is primarily envisaged as a way to nurture relationships and enable participants to develop personal relationships with peers and colleagues.

In addition to this, the conference aims to provide practical, first-hand information on product authorisation/registration requirements in place for companies with markets across Eastern Europe and those that have taken an interest in marketing their products in this region.

The conference focuses on the following topics:

  • Current EU regulatory situation and future developments
  • Bioprotectants
  • National Competent authorities experience
  • Sustainable Use Regulation is off the table – what next?
  • Glimpse into the future of farming

Topics mentioned above will be highlighted from the perspective of the different stakeholders involved (Competent authorities of the EU and MS, institutes, universities, industry, consultancies, etc.).

Registration

EUR 750 (+ VAT) – PPP Basic Registration
(includes conference materials (programme, presentations, sponsors leaflet etc.), coffee breaks, meals and drinks and lunch for two days).

EUR 800 (+ VAT) – PPP Full Registration
(includes everything from the basic package and dinner on the first evening of the event (17 April 2024)).

Optional additional networking opportunities: On the evening before the event (16 April 2024), a complementary drinks reception will be held.

Discounts are available for groups of more than three delegates from a single company and for members of the Loyalty Programme. Please contact info@legera.eu for more information.

Location

Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, Bratislava

Hviezdoslavovo nam. 3
811 02 Bratislava
Slovakia

For attendees of the conference, the hotel is offering rooms at a preferential accommodation rate. Please sent an email to reservation.bratislava@radissonblu.com and use the promotional code “LEGERA24”.

Alternative hotels a short walk away:
Hotel Devín, Park Inn by Radisson Danube Bratislava, BlueBell Hotel


How to get here

We recommend taking a flight to Vienna International Airport and then using either:
A taxi (needs to be booked):
Schwechat Preprava, Schwechatexpress, CARTRANS

Or a buss connection leaving every 30 minutes. More information at this link.

REGISTRATION OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS

Speakers Day 1

Rachel Sharp

Regulatory ecotoxicologist at EFSA

Rachel is a regulatory ecotoxicologist with 20 years of experience. For the last 13 years she has been working in EFSA performing risk assessments for pesticides and has been involved with developing risk assessment methodologies and guidance documents. She has experience in a wide range of risk assessments but has a particular interest in the risk assessment for birds and mammals and coordinated the EFSA activity for updating the guidance document for the risk assessment for birds and mammals.

Tomasz Sobanski

Team Leader at Computational Assessment and Alternative Methods Unit at European Chemicals Agency

Tomasz is a Team Leader for Alternative Methods Team at the European Chemicals Agency in Helsinki. His background is biophysics and computer science, with specialisation in metrology in biological systems. His work at ECHA is focusing on the development and application of the alternative methods in various regulatory processes. For many years he was an ECHA project manager of the OECD QSAR Toolbox while recent years he dedicated to NAMs and their applications in regulatory science.

Maristella Rubbiani

Policy Officer at EU Commission, DG SANTE E4-Pesticides and biocides

Maristella has a degree in Biological Sciences and a PhD in Environmental and industrial hygiene: she is currently policy officier at DG SANTE E4-Pesticides and biocides, where she is in charge of PPP substances’ approval and new and emerging issues such as endocrine disruptors, CLP revision and co-formulants. She was in the past the director of the Unit of “Chemical substances approval and products authorization” at National Center for Chemicals – Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) Roma, Italy, in charge of risk assessment and risk management for biocides and plant protection products; for classification and labelling according to CLP Regulation; responsible of the National Poison Center database for Art. 45 (CLP); member of several committees; inspector for dangerous preparations and GLP; professor universities for risk assessment and consumer safety; tutor in several Taiex/Twinning projects and trainings.

Eric Liegeois

Policy Officer Pesticides at EU Commission, DG SANTE E4-Pesticides and biocides

Eric holds a grant of Master in Bio-Engineering (Chemical Engineer). He joined the European Commission in 2002 working successively at DG ENV, DG GROW and since April 2018 at DG SANTE where he is in charge of the authorisation of plant protection products, in particular the biopesticides as well as risk reduction activities.

José Carvalho

Chair of the Microbial Professional Group at IBMA

José holds a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the Humboldt University in Berlin and a Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Porto University, with a focus on microbiology, antibiotics resistance and immunology. Previous to joining the industry, Jose worked for the Portuguese Water Institute, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and the German Federal Institute for Material Science and Testing (BAM) in analytical methods, publishing 11 peer-reviewed articles and 3 book chapters. Since 2020, José is working as European Regulatory Lead for Certis Biologicals and prior to that in several regulatory positions within the crop protection industry. He is currently the Chair of the Microbial Professional Group at IBMA (International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association), the biocontrol industry’s expert group dealing with microorganism registrability issues for microorganism-based technologies in agriculture.

Manel Cervera Comabella

Managing Partner at Dunham Trimmer LLC

Manel has over 20 years’ experience in marketing and sales of biostimulants and added value fertilizers, with prior roles at Sustainable Agro Solutions as Export Manager and most recently Biovert, where he served as Vice President and Commercial and Marketing Director.
Manel has got MSc in Fertilizers and Environment (Autonoma de Madrid) and Msc in International Business (ESCI Barcelona).
Based in Lleida, Spain, Manel provides DunhamTrimmer with a strong network and experience in the Biostimulant industry and designs commercial strategy for different business units and services provided by DunhamTrimmer.

Peter Kugel

Partner at VVGB Advocaten Brussels

Peter Kugel is partner at VVGB. He heads the firm’s EU Regulatory Practice. Peter has a broad environmental, health & safety risk regulation and litigation experience. He is a specialist in the field of chemicals, plant protection products and biocides. He advises and represents clients in various compliance strategies and enforcement procedures, data sharing (LoA) negotiations or disputes, task force/consortia formation and handling etc. Peter is also actively involved in supporting clients in chemical control or pollution prevention procedures and advocacy projects under diverging European, international or domestic legal frameworks and circular economy and sustainability projects. Peter is member of the bar in the Netherlands and in Brussels (EU-list). He studied at Leiden University and at the College of Europe (Bruges) and also at the Institut des Etudes de Sciences Politiques in Paris.

Emma Jenkins

EMEA Regulatory Policy and Strategy Implementation Leader at Corteva Agriscience (on behalf of CropLife Europe)

Emma grew up on 300 hectare arable farm in the south of England. Starting her career in crop protection working in field trials for a contract research organisation during school and university vacations (counted a lot of aphids!), accepting a full time field trials role in 1996. Emma moved into Regulatory Affairs, when joining the UK Regulatory Authority PSD (now CRD) in 1998. Emma joined the EMEA Regulatory Team in Corteva Agriscience in 2012, becoming an R&D Laureate and moving into a dedicated policy implementation role in 2021. Emma is member for the CropLife Europe Crop Protection and Biopesticides Policy Team.

Manuel Duarte

Regulatory Director at ECCA

Manuel Duarte is an independent consultant on PPP’s regulatory and, in parallel, holds the position of Regulatory Director for ECCA. His background is agronomy with a master in crop protection (1988). After passing through several positions as field trials manager, regulatory manager and marketing project manager in a local Portuguese company, he joined Sapec (now Ascenza) in 2004 as insecticide product manager. In 2007, he moved to Sapec’s Technical Department, becoming its director since 2010, until he left the company. In January 2019, he founded his own independent consulting company.

REGISTRATION OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS

Speakers Day 2

Gábor Tőkés

Plant Protection and Yield Enhancer authorization expert

He graduated as Biological Engineer from the Budapest Technical University. He gained his University doctor title at the Agricultural University of Gödöllő, in the topic of Growth regulators in cereal production.
Gábor organized the system for efficacy trials of plant growth regulators in the Hungarian plant protection network. He edited the Hungarian guidance for growth regulators and fertilizers, and for 20 years he coordinated the Hungarian efficacy trials of such products.
Since the first proposals he actively took part in the discussions about the new authorization regulation (1107/2009 EC).
Between 2010 – 2021 Gábor worked as the head of the Authorization of PPPs and Yield Enhancers in Hungary, and he was member of the EU Post Approval Issues expert group and the Fertilizer Committee.
Since 2022 he works as independent expert of authorization issues. In 2023 he was nominated as Hungarian member of ECHA SEAC (Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis).

Rauno Aljas

Advisor and Coordinator of Plant Protection Products Department at Estonian Agriculture and Food board

Rauno is an Advisor and Coordinator of Plant Protection Products authorizations at the Estonian Agriculture and Food Board since July 2023. Previously, he served as the Chief Specialist of Plant Protection Products, focusing on efficacy evaluation and label authorization. His educational background includes a Master of Science in Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology from the University of Tartu (2014-2017) and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management and Planning from the same university (2010-2013).

Pavel Minář

Director of Plant Protection Products Division at the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture

Pavel is an MSc graduate in horticultural production and holds a Ph.D. in Phytopathology from Mendel University in Brno. His career in plant protection started at an ornamental plants producer, where he was responsible for growing technologies. In 1990, he joined the Czech PPP regulatory authority (Central Institute for Supervision and Testing in Agriculture), where he was involved for 8 years in the field testing and evaluation of registration trials. From 2000, he was responsible for GEP certification and methodology for biological efficacy testing. From 2005, he has been the Head of the PPP Branch, overseeing the authorization process and post-registration inspections of pesticides. He represents the Czech Republic at the Standing Committee for the Food Chain and Animal Health and at EU Council Working Groups.

Irena Zorica Ježić Vidović

Head of Division of Toxicology at Croatian Institute for Public Health

Irena is the Head of Division for Toxicology of Croatian Institute of Public Health. She is working on the prevention of poisonings and other harmful effects of chemicals, as well as assisting in reducing the consequences of accidents involving dangerous chemicals. She is also involved in the field of legislation on chemicals in Croatia for the last 15 years.

Gergely István

CEO at Nevex Institute

István is a CEO of NEVEX Institute Ltd. since its 2021 inception, holds degrees in economics with specializations in Management & Leadership and International Marketing (with a minor in consumer behavior). His academic journey began in Budapest, Hungary, expanding through studies in foreign institutions (WV – USA; Krasnoyarsk and Moscow – Russia).
Prior to NEVEX, István spent over 14 years in the European wholesale trade of promotional products, including over 11 years as the director of a leading Dutch company, overseeing first the CEE region and later the combined regions of CEE, PL, and UA. Before entering the B2B sector, he worked in financial, sales, and sales support companies.
In his current role, István takes pride in transforming a simple idea into a functional company and building a high-quality professional team. Additionally, he has established excellent relationships with authorities and stakeholders at all levels, including the operational leadership of NÉBIH and decision-makers in various ministry departments.

Bronislava Škarbova

Crop Production Department at The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic

Bronislava graduated from the Slovak Technical University, Faculty of Chemical Technology, , and received a Ph.D in analytical chemistry. She has been working in the field of plant protection products including application machinery for more than 15 years at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic. Her responsibility is in participation on development and implementation of EU legislation, drafting and legal procedure of the national legislation, elaboration of the strategic and conceptual documents, interministerial cooperation in relevant areas for plant protection products management (environment protection, health protection, Airial authority and Transport office etc.)

Nikoloz Meskhi

Head of Plant Protection Department at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

Nikoloz has been serving as the Head of the Plant Protection Department at the National Food Agency (NFA) of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia since 2012. Born in Georgia on July 12th, 1985, Dr. Meskhi obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the Georgian Agrarian University in 2006, followed by a Master’s Degree in Entomology in 2008. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Science from the University of Shota Rustaveli of Batumi. In 2023, he completed the Agricultural Science and Technology program at Penn State: The Pennsylvania State University.

Marius-Sebastian Brătăşanu

Regulatory Expert at Artemisa d.o.o.

Marius has 19 years of experience in registration of plant protection products, fertilisers and biocides in Romania and Republic of Moldova, with extensive knowledge and expertise in the field. He has established excellent relationships with authorities, including the National Phytosanitary Authority and the Ministry, due to his interactions and connections with key personnel. His responsibilities go beyond new registrations, as he also focuses on maintaining approved products in the market.
His notable experience includes his employment at Arysta, where he served as Registration & Development Manager and Country Registration Manager for 15 years.

Matija Zulj

Chief Executive Officer at AGRIVI

Matija, a renowned impact entrepreneur, is recognized among Europe’s Top Tech Innovators and a thought leader in the fields of agri-food technologies and sustainable food systems. He is a founder and a CEO at AGRIVI, an AgTech company that delivers digital agriculture solutions, with the vision to change the way food is produced. With a focus on innovation, sustainability and support for farmers, AGRIVI plays a key role in improving entire agri-food ecosystem. Matija serves as a European Innovation Council Ambassador, OECD-FAO Advisory Group Member for Responsible Ag Supply Chains, and UN Global Compact Board Member Croatia.

Annual Eastern Europe Regulatory Conference
REGISTRATION OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS

Event sponsors

SPONSORS

Promote your company

The conference has proven to be a great platform to promote your company and services, and a great chance to take advantage of the many opportunities to network with authority representatives and industry colleagues.

We offer sponsorship, exhibitor, meal break sponsorship and advertising options. The number of sponsorship packages is limited and will be offered on a first come, first served basis.

Please contact us for further information at info@legera.eu or fill out the registration form: