In early February, NACD Vice Chairman and Brown Chemical Co., Inc. President and CEO Doug Brown was one of several global industry representatives to travel to Brussels to sign an agreement forming the International Chemical Trade Association (ICTA), which replaces the International Council of Chemical Trade Associations. In November, when we hosted discussions with numerous international chemical groups at our Annual Meeting in Florida, I asked Doug as our international affairs point person to take up the charge of helping establish this new group. Today, I’m proud to say we have taken the first steps to making international cooperation within the chemical industry even stronger.
NACD has participated at the international level for many years now, but the new ICTA will enable us to expand how we work with our international partners while also benefiting U.S. distributors that import and export their products. NACD’s participation in this new group will make it easier to harmonize Responsible Distribution-type programs across international boundaries, meaning our members can have greater faith in working with their global partners - whether they are bringing product into the U.S. or sending it overseas.
Over the years, we have worked with Responsible Distribution Canada, Brazil’s Associquim, and many others to align our programs. Our hope is that the new ICTA will encourage other international chemical industry groups to join and ultimately create a network of top-notch EHS&S-verified supply chain partners.
I believe there is great value in the global attitude this organization will help foster surrounding the chemical industry. Not only will it enable us to coordinate our programs more effectively, but it will also provide our industry with a global platform to talk about the ways we contribute to life in the 21st century and how we work to protect our employees and our communities and make modern life possible. It will help us create a global consciousness of the importance of chemistry in our daily lives.
I’m proud to say that NACD is one of the founding members of an international organization whose mission is to benefit distributors around the globe, and I’m confident our industry as a whole will be better because of this type of cooperation.