Supporting our customers through regulatory affairs

• DSM continues to expand the expertise of its regulatory affairs team, to provide more value to customers.
  
• Its remit spans product-related quality and global documentation.
  
• Here, Catherine Mignot, regulatory affairs manager HNH, EMEA, explains how the regulatory team is now an integral part of customer relationships.
  

What does your role involve?

With approximately 135 people working across the team globally, there is a variety of expertise on hand for our customers from Human, Nutrition and Health, Personal Care and Aroma and Animal Nutrition and Health. The global and regional teams ensure that our products comply with local regulations. This in close cooperation with the Global Quality Compliance team ensuring our plants remain at the state-of-the art. In support of the Human Nutrition and Health unit, we also have dedicated experts supporting our customer segments such as Dietary Supplements, Pharma, Early Life Nutrition, Nutrition Improvement and Food & Beverages. We are for instance involved to assist a customer when they wish to market internationally a food supplement or beverage. Networking and shaping is important for us too; we’re very proactive in joining and having influential roles in associations, where we work with customers, peers and influencers to shape the regulatory agenda and help the whole industry grow on a national, regional and global level whilst always keeping consumer’s safety and health as the core of our activities. “After 20 years in Regulatory affairs in Human Nutrition and Health, I like to find creative ways through the regulatory “jungle” to position a product in an appealing and truthful manner. Engaging with risk managers and explaining the industry constraints is a challenging and key aspect of my role”. 

How have customer needs evolved?

Ten or 15 years ago, quality was important, and it still is. But I feel since then we have become much more customer focused. Today, our customers want much more than simple compliance; they want proactive thinking from their ingredient supplier. By having us in the room with customers, we can help to troubleshoot and solve problems directly. In my view, the way that people see regulatory experts has completely changed: we’re now seen as an asset that can help develop more sustainable solutions - helping shape a better future for our consumers.

What’s next?

We’re continuously expanding and upskilling as regulation becomes more detailed and more complex, and we’re always exploring more ways to add value and help customers, working with them as partners rather than suppliers. We’ve come a long way already, but we have big ambitions and an exciting future ahead of us.