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It is a LONG time since I was at school!, but I always have a ‘new term’ feeling at this time of year. I am not alone, as a friend recently remarked they always want to buy a new pencil case at the start of September!
On another school reflection, taking me back to how my chemistry classes fuelled my love of science, this August, partnering with Cosmetics Cluster UK (CCUK) and several individual companies, CTPA was pleased to support a sun education initiative for families at the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and Museum, Widnes (https://www.catalyst.org.uk). It was wonderful to be back in a lab again, and although I was only an observer at one of the sun safety workshops I felt proud to be a cosmetic scientist as the workshops showcased the relevance of chemistry in our sunscreens and their importance as part of a sunsafe regime.
With summer over, however, we do have to acknowledge that we are three-quarters of the way through a busy year, and at CTPA we have just undertaken the Q3 review of the 2025 workplan with an eye on 2026 and beyond.
New Cabinet and Party-Political Conferences
We will all be aware of the Prime Minister’s recent major Cabinet reshuffle. There are new appointments and changes in key departments and roles that directly impact on our industry, namely at the Department for Business and Trade; Defra; Science; and Investment. I will be writing to the new Secretaries of State and Ministers, introducing our industry, highlighting the productive work undertaken to-date with their predecessors and renewing our commitment to work with them and their departments to help deliver on the growth agenda.
Autumn is not only ‘back to school’, but also a time for party political conferences. I will be attending these over the coming weeks, representing the cosmetics and personal care industry, raising awareness of the challenges affecting business and sharing our asks of Government and opposition parties in order that our essential sector can continue to grow, and do so sustainably.
Call to Action – CTPA Membership Survey
In 2021 we conducted the first survey to determine which of CTPA’s membership services were valued and if the Association was meeting members’ expectations. A second survey followed in 2023. Members provided extremely helpful replies that informed the subsequent CTPA workplans.
CTPA would like to hear members’ views again this year in order to make sure the Association understands members’ needs, to measure satisfaction, strengthen engagement and identify opportunities.
The 2025 Membership Survey will be circulated in a few weeks. I would urge as many people as possible to complete the questionnaire, please. While your company is the CTPA member, we would like to hear from the individual users of the CTPA services, from a variety of job roles, in order for CTPA to identify those services and resources that you find most useful, and to help us pinpoint key tools that could be developed further and/or new services to be introduced.
Thank you in advance.
NAMs Workshop: 29 September 2025
One important workstream, where CTPA is leading for industry and regulators, is that of non-animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs).
To this end, CTPA is hosting two days of NAMs events on 29 and 30 September. The first day offers practical training on how to use NAM-based approaches for cosmetics and chemicals safety assessors, focussing on Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) methodology, read-across and the application of Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA). The second day is an invited workshop between UK regulators and industry experts.
No other industry organisation has convened such a workshop in the UK. Establishing this type of dialogue between industry and regulators is fundamental to relationship-building for all areas of chemical regulations which may impact us, as well as the long-term success of applying new NAM approaches in the UK.
Find further information on attending the training on 29.09.25 here.
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