Log InFIRST EARNED RECOGNITION AGREEMENT FOR CHEMICALS IN TRANSIT
24 April 2015
CBA News
FIRST EARNED RECOGNITION AGREEMENT FOR CHEMICALS IN TRANSIT
The Chemical Business Association (CBA) has signed the chemical industry’s first agreement on earned recognition with one of the sector’s key regulators, the Department for Transport (DfT).
The agreement covers the carriage of high consequence dangerous goods and guarantees that compliant companies ‘will benefit from a reduced frequency of inspection’ by the regulator. To secure this benefit, companies must be 100% compliant with relevant security regulations, be compliant members of the CBA’s Responsible Care programme, and hold a current independent Third Party Verification (TPV) assessment recognised by DfT and CBA.
“We welcome this landmark agreement for the CBA and the chemical sector,” said Peter Newport, CBA’s Chief Executive. “We have long advocated a system of earned recognition to reward the standards maintained by member companies.”
“Responsible Care has been mandatory for CBA members since 2002 and this agreement provides a real incentive for member companies to engage with TPV as important further step towards verifiable continuous improvements,” he added
The agreement creates a series of protocols for the confidential exchange of assurances between the CBA and DfT covering companies’ initial and continued compliance with the eligibility criteria for earned recognition in relation to the secure transport of high consequence dangerous goods.
Further information from:
Peter Newport,
Chief Executive Officer,
Chemical Business Association
www.chemical.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
(1) Third Party Verification – Many CBA companies already undertake additional assessments of their performance. These provide compliance benchmarks within the chemical supply chain as well as offering a system of third party verification to Responsible Care. SQAS (Safety, Quality Assessment System) is a Europe-wide method of evaluating the safety, security, quality and environmental standards of companies.
(2) Within SQAS, the European Single Assessment Document (ESAD) is a system for assessing the health, safety and environmental standards of a chemical distributor’s operations; whilst the Transport Service and Warehouse elements of SQAS provide a similar form of assessment for companies providing transport and warehouse logistics services. For further information, go to www.sqas.org
(3) The CBA represents the independent chemical supply chain. Its membership includes distributors, traders, warehouse operators, along with logistics and transport companies. CBA’s members, the majority of which are SMEs, are the main industry interface with thousands of UK downstream chemical users.
(4) CBA member companies employ more than 7,600 people. They distribute, pack, and blend nearly 4 million tonnes of chemicals each year with a market value of almost three billion euros. In addition, CBA’s logistics member companies handle more than three million tonnes of chemicals annually.