Last year ICTA signed an memorandum of understanding with the Indian Chemical Council. Both organizations agreed to work together to support the Indian chemical distribution market and drive improvements in health, safety, security and environment along the supply chain.

The first result of the agreement was that Mr. Robert Stuyt gave a presentation at the India Chemical Industry Outlook Conference in Mumbai. At the conference there were hundreds of participants from international  
(Arkema, BASF, Covestro, etc.) and national (NITI Aayog, Reliance, TATA, etc.) companies, as well as consultants (McKinsey, Accenture) and government officials (India, UK).

During his talk Mr. Stuyt introduced ICTA and emphasized the importance of the chemical distribution industry to the mostly chemical manufacturing companies that were present. He explained specifically what the added value of chemical distributors can be in upcoming markets such as India. The relevance of RC/RD to the Indian market and the concept of supply chain responsibility were other key topics.

ICTA and ICC will jointly determine the next steps to further shape this cooperation. It is the goal of ICTA to provide an opening for its members to the fast-growing Indian chemicals market as well as its manufacturing capabilities. At the same time ICTA hopes to help the Indian chemical distribution market to deal with challenges relating to safe working conditions and environmental pollution more effectively.

Source: ICIS website on 2019/03/22

The International Chemical Trade Association (ICTA) seeks to build further alliances with global chemical distributortrade associations and individual chemical distributors, itssecretary general said.

“We are building bridges between associations in differentcountries, especially in countries with no distribution tradeorganisation,” said Robert Stuyt, secretary general of the ICTA. “Here we can work in the interest of distributors by helpingto bring up safety standards and spreading the importance ofResponsible Care and Responsible Distribution,” he added.

For chemical distributors with operations worldwide, the ICTA can act as their distributor trade group in that country, he noted.

The ICTA operates three working committees – on substance,safety, health and environment (SSHE); transport and security (T&S); and Responsible Care (RC) / Responsible Distribution (RD).
“We support and initiate activities to better develop international chemical trade. If you’re a US distributor that does business in India, and know that a company there iscovered under an ICTA programme, you may be more confident in their operations,” said Stuyt.

TIES WITH INDIAN CHEMICAL COUNCIL
The ICTA is building ties with the Indian Chemical Council(ICC) which represents all branches of the chemical industryin the country, from petrochemicals and inorganics to dyes,fertilizers and specialty chemicals.

In 2018, the ICTA and ICC signed a memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) for cooperation on ResponsibleCare/Responsible Distribution (RC/RD), the global standardfor environmental, health, safety and security performance. “We want to have a joint workforce on RC/RD and holdworkshops where we bring in local and internationalpartners,” said Stuyt.

In 2019, the secretary general also plans to seek ties with the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF), the country’s largest producer association.
“We would want to work on RC/RD with them and would aim foran MoU, but it is too early to discuss at this stage,” said Stuyt.

The ICTA works to increase the visibility of the chemical distribution industry at global intergovernmental organisations, and engages with policy makers, journalists and other business associations.

For instance, the ICTA is closely involved in United Nations initiatives such as the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) where it is involved in developing the post-2020 framework, Stuyt noted.

UMBRELLA GROUP FOR DISTRIBUTORS
The ICTA views itself as the distributors’ version of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) which is an umbrella group for chemical producers. The ICTA has intensified contact with the ICCA on sustainability, the circular economy, RC/RD and other issues, said Stuyt.
Both organisations are also aligning their advocacy messages at intergovernmental organisations, such as UN Environment, he added.



The ICTA’s member associations include the European Association of Chemical Distributors (Fecc), the US-based National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD), the Brazilian Association of Chemical Distributors (Associquim), Mexico’s National Association of Chemical Industry (ANIQ) and the UK’s Chemical Business Association (CBA), among others.

ICTA also has 19 member companies, including global distributors Brenntag, Univar and Azelis. “Company members gain access to global best practices and knowledge of legaland technical issues,” said Stuyt. “Next to that, they receive early updates on intended global policies and the possibility of influence on the development of those policies. Members also have the opportunity to meet their global peers at ICTA’s biannual events,” he added.

Source: ICIS website on 2019/03/22

The chemical industry has emphasised that chemicals should not be considered as part of the problem, but part of the solution, for instance in combatting climate change, increasing living standards and health and providing clean water.