Darren Abrahams

Associate

• dabrahams@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Brussels Office

Darren Abrahams is an English Barrister in the Brussels office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. His practice is focused on EU regulatory requirements and related commercial issues in the environment and life sciences area.

The PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook consistently recommends Mr. Abrahams in EU Life Sciences and Legal 500 EMEA (2008) recognises his "comprehensive understanding" of EU environmental regulation.

He has particular experience in the following areas:

• biotechnology (genetically modified food, feed and plants);
• chemicals (biocides, cosmetics, pesticides and REACH);
• environment (removal of barriers to trade, climate change, labelling and marketing claims, liability, operation of industrial installations, product standards, substance restrictions and hazardous and electronic waste);
• food and feed (labelling and marketing claims and hygiene rules); and
• medical devices (authorisation, classification and reclassification).

Mr. Abrahams provides legal advice and representation to enable clients to authorise and place their products on the EU market (such as biocides, pesticides, GMOs, and substances covered by the new REACH regime for chemicals). He also assists clients with the environmental aspects of international transactions and the structuring of regulatory compliance programmes.

An important part of his practice is helping clients understand the likely commercial impacts of new EU regulatory initiatives and actively shaping their legislative and policy environments. He represents clients before key decision making bodies (EU institutions and EU Member States), as well as in the European Courts of Justice.

His professional experience includes an internship with the European Commission’s Environment Directorate General, during which time he assisted on dossiers including the Environmental Liability Directive. He lectures and publishes regularly.

Representative Matters

A recent list of matters in which he has been involved includes:

• strategic advice on compliance with REACH;
• defending the authorisation of several chemical substances before the Court of First Instance;
• data protection, consortia and supply agreements for biocidal products;
• advice on liability issues under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;
• legal challenges to coexistence measures adopted by several EU Member States concerning the cultivation of GMOs;
• a complete regulatory health check for the marketing of an energy drink in several EU Member States;
• advice on environmental liability issues associated with various manufacturing processes and product sales;
• structuring of a compliance regime for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE);
• advice on WTO litigation challenges to aspects of the EU's approach to the regulation of genetically modified organisms; 
• advice on the authorisation of novel foods; and
• product recalls for defective/non-complaint products.

News

• Darren Abrahams, Craig Simpson Speaking at EU Chemicals Regulation Conference
• Steptoe REACH Team Recommended Again
• Darren Abrahams Quoted in Business Insurance on Soil Directives
• EU Analyst's Inaugural Issue Produced by Environment & Life Sciences Team
• Darren Abrahams Warns of Overregulation of Genetically Modified Crops
• Simpson and Abrahams on Functional Foods

Speaking Engagements

• Darren Abrahams speaks on "The Environmental Liability Directive" at Conference on Registration of Agrochemicals in Europe, May 15, 2008
• Darren Abrahams Speaks on REACH Developments at ISSA Conference in Amsterdam, May 8, 2008
• How to Get the Most Out of REACH Pre-registration, February 6, 2008, (A Steptoe-sponsored event)
• REACH Pre-registration: Preparation & Execution Webcast, October 23, 2007, (A Steptoe-sponsored event)
• REACH in Practice, June 1, 2007, (A Steptoe-Sponsored Event)
• Biocidal Products Directive: What US Companies Need to Know, October 31, 2005, (A Steptoe-sponsored event)

Publications

• Environmental Liability Directive
  May 15, 2008
• REACH Essentials - How to keep your product on the market
  May 8, 2008
• How to Get the Most Out of REACH Pre-registration
  February 8, 2008
• REACH in practice - challenges for the life sciences sector
  2007
• EU Environmental Challenges for the Electronics Sector
  2007, International Comparative Legal Guide to Environmental Law 2007
• EU Analyst: Environment & Life Sciences: A Detailed Description of REACH
  February 2007
• Regulating Obesity: The Right Path?
  December 29, 2006, PLC Cross-Border Life Sciences Handbook 2006/07
• EU Analyst: Environment & Life Sciences
  October 2006

Professional Affiliations

• American Chamber of Commerce to the EU
• Bar European Group
• UK Environmental Law Association