The article EU Definition of Nanosubstances Could Boost Public Acceptance, Improve Regulations, published by the Meridian Institute on the 2 December 2011, discusses the content of the workshop entitled Defining Nano!? - Compliance Requirements & Market Impact of the EU Definition of 'Nanomaterials - organized by the NIA on the 30 November in Brussels. Speakers at the NIA workshop said that 'the definition could help build public confidence and give companies more security as they move forward with nanotechnology-enabled products,' points out the article.
In the absence of a definition until October 2011, when the Recommendation on the definition was published, companies may have behaved hesitantly when it came to investment in nanotechnology due to the negative perceptions that may have ensued in an environment of regulatory uncertainty, according to Jaideep Raje of Lux Research, one of the speakers at the conference. Now that there is a definition in the EU, companies would be in a better position to approach the perceived risks and take a more proactive stance, as pointed out by the speaker.
In addition, the definition needs to be taken as a "clarification, not a separation of a certain class of substances" highlighted the NIA Director General, Steffi Friedrichs.
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