Brussels, Washington, Tokyo – 16 March 2009 – The International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), a coalition of leading chemical trade associations around the world, will soon issue a report on important product stewardship progress made by the industry in the past few years. At the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM-2), to be held in Geneva this May 11-15, industry representatives will detail progress in improving the safe management of chemicals. Furthermore, ICCA will explain how the global chemical industry will continue to demonstrate its economic, social and environmental commitments around the globe.
At ICCM-1, held in Dubai in February 2006, the industry undertook two new initiatives, the Responsible Care® Global Charter (RCGC) and Global Product Strategy (GPS), to help fulfill the objectives of the U.N.’s Strategic Approach of International Chemicals Management (SAICM). SAICM is the international policy framework that encourages governments, industry and other stakeholders to work together to realize the goal established at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development - that by the year 2020, chemicals will be produced and used in ways that minimize adverse impacts to human health and the environment.
The GPS includes a 2018 target date for assessing the safety of chemicals in commerce and an interim 2012 target for companies to report on their progress for making these assessments. “At ICCM-2, the industry is eager to report its progress in implementing the Responsible Care Global Charter and Global Product Strategy (GPS)” said Christian Jourquin, President of ICCA. “The Global Charter goes beyond the elements of industry’s existing Responsible Care safety, health and environment programs to address the growing public dialogue over sustainable development, public health issues relating to the use of chemical products, and the need for greater industry transparency. And the GPS both advances and measures industry’s product stewardship performance and improves communication with stakeholders.”
In Geneva, ICCA will report on many important milestones including:
- Creation of a base set of hazard and exposure information for conducting chemical safety assessments;
- Development of global product stewardship guidelines for use by member associations and companies to accelerate the implementation of chemical management programs;
- Development of a process to enhance transparency and information exchange between co-producers, along the value chain, with governments and the public
- Capacity building projects and new partnerships to improve chemicals management performance in a number of developing countries;
- Extending the Responsible Care network to include a pilot project with Chinese national companies, and outreach in Eastern Europe and the Persian Gulf;
- A broadened commitment to strengthening the scientific foundation for public policy and commercial decisions through independent quality research.
Alain Perroy, ICCA Council Secretary, noted that industry is keenly aware that expectations about product stewardship have risen in recent years. “While companies and associations have made considerable strides in collecting and reporting industry performance, we know our stakeholders expect us to set an even higher bar,” he said. “As we continue our efforts, ICCA members look forward to working with other SAICM stakeholders to achieve the goals of the World Summit on Sustainable Development.”
Find more information on the Responsible Care Global Charter, and the Global Product Strategy on this website.