Rick Clayton is technical director for IFAH-Europe, based in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to joining IFAH-Europe he spent several years as Product Development and Registration Manager for Sorex Ltd (UK) for ectoparasiticides. Previously he has worked for Cambridge Veterinary Sciences on antibiotic detection methods and Unilever Research in the area of clinical diagnostics. During this time he was also part-time editor of “Focus on Diagnostics” (published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK). In 1982 he graduated from Brunel University, London, with a degree in Applied Biology, and in 1994 he obtained a diploma in Marketing from Cambridge College. He has many years experience in product development and registration, and product management. He is author of a patent in clinical diagnostics, as well as many articles covering veterinary regulatory affairs, and is a member of the editorial board of the Regulatory Affairs Journal – Pharma. He was first author of the chapter on “Veterinary Medicinal Products” in “Fundamentals of EU Regulatory Affairs”, published by the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) (2002, 2004).