Federation of European Explosives Manufacturers

(Daft)

MINUTES

OF THE

38th FEEM ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Warsaw, Poland

38th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

WARSAW MARRIOTTHOTEL, WEDNESDAY, 21 May 2014

AGENDA

1. Chairman's opening remarks D. Antille

2. Approval of the Agenda H. Meyer

3. Compliance with Competition Regulations H. Meyer

4. Minutes of the 37th AGM in Brussels H. Meyer

5. Report of the Executive Committee D. Antille

6. Report of the Secretary General H. Meyer

7. Coffee Break 30 minutes approx. 10h30 – 11h00

8. IME Letter from the new President Debra S. Satkowiak

9. Reports of the FEEM Working Groups

n Blasting Practise Working Group H. Meyer

n Transport Working Group H. Meyer

n H&S Working Group H. Meyer

10. 2013/14 Financial Report H. Meyer

11. 2013 Statistics H. Meyer

12. Election to the Executive Committee H. Meyer

13. Change in FEEM Presidency H. Meyer

14. Any other business H. Meyer

15. Date and place of the next meeting H. Meyer

16. Closure of the meeting B. Pougny

FEDERATION OF EUROPEAN EXPLOSIVES MANUFACTURERS

38th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

22 May 2014

Warsaw, Poland

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Mr. D. Antille, President SSE Group, Switzerland

Mr. B. Pougny, Vice-President EPC Groupe, France

Mr. G. Facchinetti, Past President Pravisani, Italy

Mr. Jeff Court Orica EMET, Norway

Mr. O. Greben Austin Detonators, Czech

Mr. V. Huelamo Maxam Group, Spain

Mr. U. Sjöblom Forcit, Finland

SECRETARY GENERAL

Hans H. Meyer FEEM, Belgium

DELEGATES

INDIVIDUAL COMPANY MEMBERS

1. Mr. D. Degove Davey Bickford FRANCE

2. Mr. J. Dulian Nitroerg SA POLAND

3. Mrs. J. Glogowska

4. Mr. Slawomir Kwiatkowski

5. Mr. C. Modoux Poudrerie d’Aubonne SWITZERLAND

6. Mr. G. Facchinetti Pravisani SPA ITALY

7. Mr. A. Bailer Sprewa GERMANY

8. Mrs. L. Holubova Explosia CZECH REPUBLIC

9. Mr. A. Pabst DynaEnergetics GERMANY

10. Mr. F. Persson Eurenco SWEDEN

11. Mrs. A. Vincent

12. Mr. H. Svensson

13. Mr. Hervé de Saint-Pierre Titanobel France

14. Mr. J.-P. Reynaud

MULTINATIONAL COMPANY MEMBERS

GROUP OY FORCIT

15. Mr. U. Sjoblom Oy Forcit AB FINLAND

GROUP SSE

16. Mr. D. Antille SSE SWITZERLAND

17. Mr. M. Delaloye

18. Mr. Gilles de Preux

GROUP AUSTIN POWDER

19. Mr. O. Greben Austin Detonators CZECH REPUBLIC

20. Mr. W. Schuster Austin Europe AUSTRIA

21. Mr. J. Rathbun Austin International USA

GROUP EXPLOSIFS ET PRODUITS CHIMIQUES -E.P.C.

22. Mr. O. Obst EPC Groupe FRANCE

23. Mr. B. Pougny

GROUP MAXAM

24. Mr. V. Huelamo Maxam SPAIN

GROUP ORICA EUROPE

25. Mr. J. Court Orica Europe Norway

AFFILIATE MEMBER

26. Mr. I. Cameron EASSP UK

Associated Members:

27. Mr. Boet Coetzee SAFEX SA

IN ATTENDANCE

28. Mr. H.H. Meyer FEEM GERMANY

MEMBERSHIP 2013

4 MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES

1. AUSTIN POWDER

2. EPC GROUPE

3. MAXAM GROUP

4. ORICA EMEA

15 INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES

5. DAVEY BICKFORD, France

6. DYNAENERGETICS, Germany

7. EURENCO, Sweden

8. EXPLOSIA, Czech Republic

9. KEMPHOS OY, Finland

10. KIMIT AB, Sweden

11. MSW Chemie, Germany

12. NITROERG SA , Poland

13. OY FORCIT, Finland

14. POUDRERIE D’AUBONNE, Switzerland

15. PRAVISANI SPA, Italy

16. SOCIETE SUISSE DES EXPLOSIFS, Switzerland

17. SPREWA, Germany

18. TITANOBEL

19. WEATHERFORD, Romania

20. 1 Affiliate Organisation

a. EASSP (European Association for Study of Safety Problems in the Production and Use of Propellant Powders)

21. 2 Associate Organisations:

a. IME (Institute of Makers of Explosives)

b. SAFEX

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in Warsaw on 22 May 2014

Item 1 on the Agenda

CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS

FEEM’s President Mr. Daniel Antille opened the proceedings of the 38th Annual General Meeting by welcoming the members of the Federation and in particular Mr. Ian Cameron, Secretary General of EASSP.

Item 2 on the Agenda

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

The Draft Agenda for this Meeting had been circulated in due course and no written or verbal comments had been received. At the request of the Chairman the Agenda was unanimously accepted.

Item 3 on the Agenda

COMPLIANCE WITH EUROPEAN COMPETITION LAWS

The Secretary General reminded the meeting of the Compliance Policy which FEEM has decided to adhere to at all of its meetings. As an Association, FEEM operates in compliance with European competition laws. Respect for these laws is a core value applying to all FEEM activities not only during meetings but also to social gatherings before and after meetings. By signing the participation form, the participants declare their adherence to the Competition Compliance Programme and agreed to comply with the Competition Regulations. All delegates received the Competition Compliance Checklist prior to the meeting.

Item 4 on the Agenda

MINUTES OF THE 36TH AGM HELD IN BRUSSELS ON 5 JUNE 2013

The minutes have been circulated by electronic mail and in paper format and no written comments have been received. At the request of the Chairman the minutes were accepted unanimously.

Item 5 on the Agenda

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The president Mr. Daniel Antille gave a report about the activities of the Executive Committee in 2013.

Item 6 on the Agenda

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL

The report of the Secretary General was included in the Working Papers as a hand-out which was circulated and it was given with the help of a power-point presentation. The main topics for 2013 were:

1. Short up-date on Track & Trace

a. Readability of markings on products and packagings (1st experiences)

i. There have been several tests during 2013 concerning the readability of markings of items (cartridges, detonators and detonating cords) and packagings; as well as the XML formats for the transfer of data within the supply chains. The first trials after April 2013 were of mixed quality. A rather high percentage of tests showed good results but there were also a number of errors due to bad printing or by using wrong formats. Trials later in the year showed that manufacturers had learned to improve the quality of printing, labelling and mailing information using the correct format. Photos of examples demonstrated typical mistakes!

b. Action Plan of the European End-user organisations

i. UEPG, other end-user organisations, the Commission and FEEM have formed a task-force group to assist end-users with the implementation of phase 2 of the Track & Trace legislation.

c. Finalization of the FEEM European Standard Code

i. After several meetings of the Security Working Group FEEM finally agreed on the modifications and approved the final version at our March 2013 meeting in Brussels. In April FEEM distributed the document to its members & end-user organisations (e.g. UEPG, EASSP, Euromines, EURACOAL, EFEE, and Eurocement) and to the EU Commission, Notified Bodies and Competent Authorities. The text with its appendices was edited on FEEM’s home-page and it was also officially published on the COMMISSION’S HOME-PAGE in JUNE 2013. This has got official and regulatory character now and will enable LAW ENFORCING BODIES and PUBLIC AUTHORITIES to work according to FEEM standards.

d. Global track & trace code

i. The UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods) have met in Geneva on 23 June – 02 July 2013 for their forty-fifth session. Under Item XX of the agenda they proposed a “HARMONIZED INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR EXPLOSIVES TRACEABILITY MARKINGS“: “The sub-committee is requested to add a new paragraph 1.4.4, Provisions for Unique Identification of Class 1 Explosives (when required by National Authority), to Chapter 1.4, Security Provisions, of the Model Regulations.” The paragraph 1.4.4 is identical to the European Track & Trace regulations and matches the FEEM’s coding structure.

2. New Directives pending

a. Review of Dir. 93/15

i. A new Directive has been drafted this year, regulating the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market and supervision of explosives for civil uses. This Directive incorporates a number of other Directives and Regulations such as 93/15 & 2008/43, 2004/57, 765/2008, 768/2008, 96/82, 2013/29, 91/477 and others, dealing with explosives and pyrotechnical articles. This is the new “Bible” for the Explosives Industry! The draft will be presented by the Commission to the EU Parliament during the course of this year and will most probably enter into force at the beginning of 2014.

b. CBRNE Personnel Security Vetting

i. Within the 48 measures to enhance the security of explosives in Europe was the intention to consider possible measures at the EU level to adopt a harmonized pre-Employment Background Check (EBC) to be used in all Member States.

c. UPDATE ON SCEPYLT (Paperless European Transfer Process), THE PAN-EUROPEAN INFORMATION SYSTEM ON EXPLOSIVES CONTROL TO PREVENT AND FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM, AND ITS FUTURE

i. The Spanish SCEPYLT coordinator recalled some of the obstacles to implementation of the system in the period up to the end of 2013, when the DG Home grant expired. Only eight Member States had made financial contributions to the project (13,847 EUR each), which had a final budget of around € 980,000 in 2013 (80% funded by DG Home). Since then the system continued to be used; 12 Member States were connected, with just 5 using it (Spain, France, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands), 3 others (Germany, Poland and UK) using it on a test basis and Italy to start testing soon. In 2013 about 75 approvals had been granted for transports with about 50 pending.

d. Implementation of commission directive 2008/43/EC setting up a system for the identification and traceability of explosives for civil uses

i. STATUS OF PREPARATIONS BY INDUSTRY, INCLUDING GUIDANCE: FEEM reported to the Commission, that from 5 April 2013 all explosives manufactured by FEEM member companies are being marked in accordance with the Directive. FEEM is assisting end-user organisations like UEPG in their efforts to ensure that customers are aware of the system and its requirements. All member companies are using FEEM's European Code Structure, the guidance on which was updated in April 2013 (EU Doc 5.a.1) to cover not only the mandatory information requirements, but also recommendations to distributors and re-packagers to voluntarily use THREE LETTER CODES to identify them. FEEM also offered to develop a password-protected software application (APP) that would enable competent national authorities to identify the manufacturing site for each explosive, providing information about the EU manufacturer or importer, their address and contact details, etc.

7. There was a Coffee Break from 10h30 to 11h00.

Item 8 on the Agenda

INSTITUTE OF MAKERS OF EXPLOSIVES (IME) REPORT

Chris Ronay, President of IME has retired from IME. Chris became the president of the IME on October 1, 1994. He came to the Institute following a career of 23 years as a Special Agent of the FBI.
Chris sent these words to FEEM: “In many ways this will be a melancholy affair. IME has been such a great part of my life for nearly 20 years that I’m not sure how to deal with leaving it all behind. It seems like a replay of my first retirement from the FBI, leaving friends and colleagues from many sectors. During my time with IME, no other organization has held the influence and importance for me as FEEM. Most remarkably you Hans, John Dolan and Frank Murray have embodied the Federation and become so close to IME. For this and your friendship I am most grateful and thank you. May we always stay in touch!”

His successor as president is Debra Satkowiak. Until recently, Debra had been the Chief of the Firearms and Explosives Industry Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”).Ms. Satkowiak served for 23 years in a variety of positions at ATF, culminating in her appointment to the Firearms and Explosives Industry Division in 2010. Over those 23 years, Deb’s experience encompassed field inspections, advanced training, development of explosives policy and regulations, media and legislative affairs, and executive leadership. Her background, which includes extensive interaction with blasters and other direct users of commercial explosives, distributors, manufacturers, consultants, and company executives, has provided her with a sound background in the technical aspects of the explosives. Unfortunately Debra was not able to attend this FEEM AGM in Warsaw. She writes that she is disappointed, but a combination of her new arrival to the job and preparing for IME’s Spring Meeting beginning of June is preventing her from travelling to Europe. However, she sent a message and her greetings to this FEEM AGM.

Item 9 on the Agenda

Reports of the FEEM Working Groups

4 FEEM Working Groups have been active in 2013:

o Health and Safety

o Transport

o Blasting practices

o Track & Trace Ad-Hoc working group

The reports of the Working Groups are included in Annual Report which was given to each participant at the beginning of the meeting and there were given with the help of a power-point presentation.

Item 10 & 11 on the Agenda

FINANCIAL REPORT 2013, BUDGET 2014 and Statistics 2013

1. Financial Report 2013 and Budget 2014

The statement of the 2013 financial situation and the forecast for 2014 were circulated with the meeting papers. The books and accounts have been kept and approved by our Chartered Accounts I.I.P. in Brussels and are in meticulous condition. The meeting accepted the 2013 accounts unanimously. Due to a robust financial situation and balanced budget the Executive Committee decided at their meeting on 21 May 2013 in Warsaw to maintain the 2014 membership fees at the old level in spite of increased general costs.

2. Statistics 2013

The 2013 statistics were presented to the delegates and are included in the Annual Report which was given to each participant at the beginning of the meeting.

Item 12 on the Agenda

ELECTION & RE-ELECTION TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1. According to the “2 year rule” and according to Article 7.2 of FEEM’s Constitution the following Executives Committee Members have stepped down at this meeting and had to stand for re-election:

n Gianni Facchinetti

n Ulf Sjöblom

n Vicente Huelamo

They had indicated that they would stand for another period of office. They were unanimously elected to the Executive Committee by the Assembly for a term of 2 years.