The annual meeting of ISO/TC190 (Soil Quality) is to be held in London this year at the BSi Headquarters, Gunnersbury near Hammersmith, from October 9^th – 13^th 2006. The venue country alternates between EEC countries and non-EEC countries. Last year it was held in Tokyo . It also hosts a meeting of the CEN/TC345 committee.

The meeting will discuss ISO and CEN standards for soil quality that are currently being developed and will consider existing standards that are due for review. Currently BS10175 is due for review!

Project Horizontal will also be on the agenda which is a process by which similar tests for various industries are amalgamated into a single horizontal standard which then automatically becomes a European standard if it meets the required approval criteria, determined by a vote of the participating countries. Project Horizontal is working on a number of tests relevant to AGS members which lend themselves quite readily to the ‘horizontal’ approach.

Of particular interest is the CEN TC345 project on the characterisation of sludge which is developing chemical test methods required since the issue of the Sludge Directive.

Delegates will be coming from many parts of the world including; European, EEC and EEC applicant countries, Russia , Japan andAustralia . They are generally members of national standardisation bodies drawn from direct employees and academics and consultants working in the soil science disciplines; this includes environmental, geoenvironmental and geotechnical specialists and practitioners.

BSI are looking for sponsorship to pay for the administration costs not covered by BSi, and for providing a formal dinner and excursions for the delegates. The BSI EH/4 committee hope that that some members of the AGS may be willing to help as sponsors. They are looking for £250 from businesses of 20 or less employees and £500 from bigger companies.  The number of sponsors accepted will be limited to the amount of sponsorship required and thus sponsor’s exposure to this wide array of delegates will not be swamped by a huge amount of literature.

The benefits of being a sponsor are as follows:

Small business sponsors will be offered a marketing package opportunity for £250 of the following:

• their company logo on the back of the menu card;
• a leaflet in the ISO/TC190 meeting pack (handed out on the first day of meetings);
• one company employee to attend the Formal Dinner free of charge.

Large business sponsors will be offered a marketing package opportunity for £500 of the following (they will not be offered a £250 sponsorship package):

• their company logo on the back of the menu card;
• a leaflet in the ISO/TC190 meeting pack (handed out on the first day of meetings);
• multiple company employees to attend the formal dinner (free of charge for the first two);
• marketing board at the restaurant of choice (if approved by the restaurant of choice).

The EH4 Committee agreed that this event is a great networking opportunity for the industry.

A seminar on MCERTS will also be held and sponsors will be allowed free entry on the same basis as the meal.

Should your company wish to sponsor this international meeting please contact me in the first instance, peter.rodd@jacobs.com

Peter Rodd
Jacobs GIBB Ltd