UCB SA - BNP Paribas Fortis

control mechanisms operate differently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and may result in substantial
price and reimbursement differentials between different countries.
Even though the UCB Group cannot predict with certainty the future governmental or private healthcare
insurance interventions on the pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceutical products, such
interventions may include the increase of price controls and restrictions in use, the inclusion of patent
protected drugs in a fixed price system by therapeutic area and legislation permitting or requiring a
pharmacist to substitute a prescribed pharmaceutical product with other versions thereof, including
generic products. These interventions could have significantly adverse consequences for the
pharmaceutical industry, including the business activities of the UCB Group.
14. HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
Although there is a significant process of harmonizing health, safety and environmental regulations
among the member states of the EU and in some cases globally, regulations vary across the countries in
which the UCB Group operates. The UCB Group’s goal is to be in compliance with all applicable
health, safety and environmental requirements and to make sure it provides workplaces for employees
that are safe. The UCB Group monitors and evaluates all environmental legal initiatives and laws
regarding their potential impact on its current and past activities in order to develop and implement
appropriate action plans in a timely and effective manner. When necessary, the UCB Group incurs
capital expenditure to help achieve this objective, and has recently outsourced certain aspects of its
health and safety operations such as the processing of non-serious drug safety cases, aiming to improve
efficiency. The UCB Group expects that it will continue to be subject to stringent health, safety and
environmental regulations. Although the UCB Group cannot predict future expenditures, it believes
that current spending trends will continue.
The development, production and distribution of the products of the UCB Group is subject to
increasingly stringent environmental regulations. These environmental regulations address:
• emissions into the air;
• discharges of waste water;
• incidental and other releases into the environment;
• generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous and nonhazardous
materials; and
• construction and operation of facilities.
Historically, the UCB Group owned and operated various chemical industrial sites. Pursuant to some of
the environmental regulations which apply to the business activities of the UCB Group, a current or
previous owner or operator of an industrial site may be liable for the remediation costs associated with
the site, irrespective of whether it caused or was aware of the presence of the contaminants, or whether
the practices that resulted in the contamination were in compliance with the applicable laws at the time
they occurred. As many of the former industrial sites of the UCB Group have a long history of
chemical production, it cannot be excluded that soil or groundwater contamination has not or will not
occur or be discovered at these sites. Accordingly, the full impact of these regulations on the UCB
Group cannot be predicted. In connection with the sale of its Surface Specialty business activities the
UCB Group also agreed with the respective purchasers to retain specific environmental liabilities, in
each case subject to certain limitation periods.
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