We are very pleased to announce that CIRS Europe has been shortlisted for two Export Industry Awards by the Irish Exporters Association: Export Innovation of the Year; and Services Exporter of the Year (sponsored by Business Post). The Irish Exporters Association is the voice of the Export Industry in Ireland. It announced that 70 entries had been shortlisted for the 2023 Export Industry Awards across ten categories.

China's ICAMA published draft Provisions on the "Measures on the Management of Pesticide Registration" for public comments on May 12, 2023. Comments can be made to the Department of Pesticide Management, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs before May 30, 2023. We have compared the current version of "Measures on the Management of Pesticide Registration" with the draft, and summarized the main changes for your reference.

On May 10, 2023, we celebrated the grand opening of CIRS Kexin Biotech.* It has taken more than one year of industrial surveys but we were proud to finally open the new company on May 10, 2023.

On May 9, 2023, Hangzhou C&K Testing Technic Co., Ltd. (C&K Testing), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CIRS Group celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Our Global Cosmetics Regulation Conference held on April 25, was a resounding success, with delegates from across the cosmetics industry in attendance. We had a packed schedule with presentations from our Europe, South Korea, and US teams on cosmetics regulations in China, South Korea, the US, and the EU. The speakers provided an overview of the regulatory frameworks, including recent updates and challenges. The presentations were insightful and gave attendees a better understanding of the different regulations across various regions. The feedback from the attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, with many commenting on how insightful, and beneficial they found both the presentations as well as the opportunity to network with other professionals in the industry, in order to share experiences, and discuss the challenges and opportunities they currently face. We look forward to making this an annual event and bringing together professionals from the cosmetics industry to share insights and best practices.

Biopesticides in China include microbial pesticides, botanical pesticides, biochemical pesticides and agricultural antibiotics produced by biological fermentation. In 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs began to actively promote green production and biological pesticide substitution, which provided a good opportunity and huge space for the development of biological pesticides. In 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs opened up a green evaluation process for biological pesticides. In 2022, the approved new active ingredients in China are all biopesticide. Do you know the current situation of biopesticides registration in China, the data requirements for biopesticide registration, and the cost of biopesticide registration?

CIRS Testing Korea (YU) has been accredited in accordance with the recognized International Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and is qualified to provide physical and chemical properties testing as well as hazardous substances analysis, which are necessary for substance registration and K-BPR notification.

The registration of five active ingredients and ten new pesticide products have passed the technical review and the review of the National Pesticide Registration Review Committee in China and received approval for use. All ten products are biopesticides and were applied for by four enterprises including Sichuan Jinzhu Ecological Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd.

On January 16, 2023, CIRS Group announced the opening of a new office in Shanghai, as it continues its expansion into the global market. Located in the heart of Pudong – Shanghai's central business district – the Shanghai Office will devote itself to providing timely and sound product compliance services and solutions to clients in Shanghai and the surrounding areas.

Recently, CIRS Group once again successfully helped clients complete a regular registration under MEE Order No. 12. And the results have been notified on the MEE website.