INCITE 2018 February 15, 2018

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRAGRANCE INDUSTRY
CSIR-INDUSTRY ACTION PLAN 

Venue: CSIR-India Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow

On February 15th some 100 delegates met at the CSIR’s India Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, for a path-braking event to discuss a roadmap for the sustainable growth of the fragrance industry. The seminar was organised jointly by the CSIR, Research Institute of Fragrance Materials (RIFM), the International Fragrance Association (IFRA), and Ultra International, as the main industry partner. Senior Indian and international participants represented leading research institutes, academia and the fragrance industry. It was the first occasion that such stakeholders had come together to exchange views on critical issues facing the Indian fragrance industry.

These issues include safety standards for fragrance materials, product standardisation, harmonisation of national and international regulations and standards, constantly changing market and customer expectations, and the use of innovative technologies. A range of speakers and brainstorming sessions covered these topics. The speakers and some of the key points raised included:

PROFESSOR ALOk DHAWAN, Director CSIR- IITR welcomed delegates to this unique event and thanked Ultra’s Sant Sanganeria and Bhuvana Nageshwaran for their initiative and exceptional efforts in making the conference a reality and bringing RIFM and IFRA on board. He argued that standardisation adds value to products and appealed to the fragrance industry to cooperate in this mammoth task.

PROFESSOR ANIL KUMAR TRIPATHI, Director CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) spoke about the CIMAP’s research activities including the work on low cost, high yielding varieties of aromatic crops, particularly in regard to M. Arvensis. He discussed how under the Aroma Mission, several CSIR institutes were jointly developing and popularising technologies for cultivating, processing, value-addition, product development and marketing of medicinal and aromatic plants.

DR. JAMES C. ROMINE, President of RIFM, detailed the organisation’s work on safety and risk assessment of fragrance materials and urged IITR and CIMAP to collaborate with RIFM in accelerating the safety studies on remaining molecules and natural complex substances.

MR. MICHAEL CARLOS, Chairman IFRA shared his views on the challenges posed by the fast changing global environment and wanted to explore collaborative opportunities between RIFM/IFRA and Indian government and industry organisations to formulate a regulatory framework for fragrance materials.

 

MR. SANT SANGANERIA, Founder Chairman, Ultra International and a driving force behind the conference, discussed the fragrance industry’s unique, interdependent and international characteristics, which made it sensitive to market, socio-economic and regulatory changes. He elaborately outlined the challenges and impact of these changes and stressed the need to adopt scientific and futuristic approaches to prepare for change and maintain steady growth. Salient points included: regulations and restrictions can be an opportunity to improve product quality and safety; regulations not only make products safe but compel innovation. Specific needs include: substantial R&D investment, well-trained human resources; promotion and development of quality products with safety and efficacy, standardisation of natural and synthetic aroma materials; harmonisation of Indian industry with global safety and regulatory norms, promotion of aromatic crop cultivation, collaboration between research institutes (e.g. IITR, IFRA, RIFM) and a platform where all stakeholders can share their views.

MS. MARTINA BIANChINI, President IFRA, outlined its various activities and vital role in establishing science-based fragrance safety standards, implementing self-regulations in many countries and efforts to improve the value chain in the global fragrance industry. Also she saw possibilities in cooperating with CIMAP under Aroma Mission.

DR. SHEKHAR MITRA, President InnoPreneur & Former Sr. V.P. at P&G presented on ‘Innovation in a Changing World”, emphasising developing innovative technologies to deal with changing global challenges; and the need for Indian companies to partner with international companies to make Indian fragrance world class, facilitated by a lot of science.