Chemical industry assumes a leading role when it comes to ensuring best practice with Responsible Care, regulatory conformity and the Safe Use of chemicals. Agenda New Compliance defines an innovative approach to assist enterprises in meeting the stringent new health and safety requirements and providing for trouble-free transaction operations in the chemical supply chains.

The Paradigm Change
When the REACh (Registration, Evaluation Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) regulation entered into force in 2006 a paradigm change occurred, very much related to the safe use and management of chemicals within the supply chains. Indeed before REACh in most cases the executive compliance bodies in the individual EU Member States were in charge of enforcing prevailing rules for the HSE (Health, Safety, Environment) assessment of dangerous chemicals, including the classification and labelling thereof. With REACh in place companies, enterprises and legal entities have become responsible in ensuring the Safe Use of the products they import, manufacture and bring onto the market.
Industry is called upon to take leadership and to demonstrate that it can manage and control the product related HSE risks in the supply chains from onset to sunset. The regulatory bodies assume a monitoring role, whereby they will control that execution of the rulings occur. They will issue fines in case major deficiencies are unveiled.

What are the consequences for these responsible stakeholders when asked to manage the Safe Use of their products?

• REACH and GHS (Globally Harmonised System) implementation can differ from country to country, with interpretations varying for both. For EU active companies it will be a matter of bringing the necessary expertise around the table and to identify pragmatic and acceptable solutions that reflect the actual company needs. Even though the REACH registration process very much led by the raw material suppliers tries to introduce a common basis for the interpretation of the HSE facts and figures, the market reality today shows that among others classifications of the ‘same substance' is far from being harmonised, for a variety of reasons. Let alone the assessment of mixtures derived thereof. 
• Safe Use applies to the entire supply chains and involves the market players at all levels. Another - less obvious - consequence of the REACH regulation has been that the management of Safe Use matters is evolving out of the traditional HSE expertise centres and is now engaging all enterprise business functions and hence the entire company and the market. All things taken together and with the enterprise business functions engaged now, companies are well-advised to become organised as to how best integrate these new challenges into their internal management processes, including certification according to the prevailing norms. And this new inside-out focus will become driven by increasing supplier and customer expectations.
• It follows that companies will need to install track and trace measures that will provide them with the necessary tools and allowing them to oversee and to control not only the material flows but equally important the related HSE and other communication channels. A sound basis for an effective monitoring can be derived from a product risk management validation. The latter would preferably become carried out as part of an overall entrepreneurial assessment. The outcome will call for a systematic record-keeping on information collected, analyses carried out, references elaborated to capture analyses and conclusions, documents prepared that cannot only serve the internal information needs but can also satisfy the external obligations. This array of duties, all interlinked one way or the other call for one prime reference document, namely the safety data sheet, able to capture all basic HSE communication elements.

Risk Management Specified
The Safe Use philosophy applied calls for a number of considerations concerning risk management beyond the basic substance evaluation with hazard and exposure assessments

• Every stakeholder has a vested interest to find out how the new regulations will impact on his own operations. The impact will vary depending of the position in the value chain. To the extent that chemicals are purchased and marketed the risk profiles will change with more or less duties to fulfil and responsibilities to assume. A structured risk analysis represents a sound basis to identify critical areas that require remediation.
• Depending on the desired outcome the analysis can encompass various levels of specificity such as strategic and operative risks.
• The information and communication exchanges related to the outcome from these assessments will find their way into the management of the Safety Data Sheets (SDSs), the labels, be it for use or for transport and for other delivery means. As a result the SDSs do not have a stand-alone life within the companies, but will preferably become integrated into existing HSE and related management systems that allow for continuous improvement.

Compliance Management comes next
As already mentioned the risk analysis is not an outcome in itself but becomes a sound basis for exercising compliance management. Indeed in today's complex regulatory environment compliance management represents a multitude of tasks which are all interrelated one way or the other. The difficulty in understanding this complexity prevents many entrepreneurs from seeking a holistic solution finding first and is therefore often ending up in individual stand-alone activities at a time when pressured by suppliers or customers. Elements of such uncoordinated behaviour can be.

• The generation of Safety Data Sheets is experienced as a duty to fulfil rather than as a beneficial undertaking, part of a corporate risk minimisation program.
• The safe handling of chemicals is delegated to the duty of the safety officers, although it is equally the responsibility of the company leaders to decide on how to improve the company risk and safety policy.
• Risk management is seen as an activity primarily focused on the financial risks when these are only part of a larger risk portfolio.
• Product Stewardship and Responsible Care concepts that foster the self-initiative on improved safety standards and behaviour lack the necessary intensity whilst the responsibilities for safety measures in place are played back to the authorities and to the insurance companies.
• Expertise is lacking and considered expensive if contracted from third party deliverers.

Compliance Management in the Supply Chain
Way forward - Agenda new Compliance sees its value offering in the unique approach that allows enterprises to effectively validate conformity with regulations and HSE best-practice in particular at the hand-over steps in the value chains. Take the case of a formulator of (hazardous) chemicals who has to rely on a multitude of safety data sheets from a variety of suppliers to generate his own safety data documents. The HSE information he will compile and distil out can be only as good as the information he receives. In doubt he will have to double check the quality of the data, the context and the conclusions reached. This requires expertise, time and money which in many cases is lacking, in particular in the case of SMEs (Small- and Medium-size Enterprises). How much more efficient would it be if he was given the assurance that the safety documentation he received represented state-of-art conformity information. And how much easier would it be if that SME could certify to its customers that homework has been done properly and thus being in a position to provide that particular added-value service to its clients. By extending this line of thought to the entire supply chain interactions, it does not require much imagination to understand how much benefit for all stakeholders will result from such mutual confidence earned in each other.

This reflection is at the onset of the Compliance Footprint Quality-CFP label assignment designed to accompany chemical substances, products and articles all along to the consumer.

The CFP Solution Offering
In other words, CFP defines the new standard to verify the conformity within the value chain in compliance with the legal requirements.
CFP represents a unique and innovative system that provides the capabilities to inspect and deliver compliant Safety Data Sheets, labels and transport information. The objective being to deliver a CFP Quality Label that can be used as proof of the HSE conformity in the value chain hand-over transactions, equally between enterprises and stakeholders.

There are five good reasons that speak in favour of the CFP Quality Label:

• The CFP Quality Label helps enterprises to comply in essence with REACH and GHS via managed compliance in a global context.
• The CFP Quality Label enables enterprises to access online ‘Safe Use of Chemicals' information anytime and anywhere.
• The CFP Quality label reduces the compliance costs for enterprises with the help of standardised work processes and innovative IT.
• In essence the CFP Quality label helps enterprises to safeguard their market assets and franchise.
• The CFP Quality Label benefits enterprises and in particular its business partners such as logistics, purchasing, production, sales, EH&S and quality management

Solution Finding from an Enterprise Perspective
However it is fair to say that a number of behavioural hurdles have yet to be overcome before the full value of the CFP solution offering can unfold and become realized.

Companies need to become convinced:

• That bringing their HSE house in good order represents a key strategic value proposition.
• That assessing the strategic and tactical risks of the products within their enterprise portfolios represents a task they should have undertaken since long.
• That taking the necessary measures to track and trace the Safe Use information and to communicate internally and externally with ‘One Voice' not only saves valuable time lost otherwise in uncoordinated singular remediation actions, but maintains valuable credibility internally and externally.
• That compliance does not allow for any grey zones and that referring to the Safety Data Sheets as the prime HSE document on which to align other deliveries such as labels is the correct choice to make.
• That by the same token the Safety Data Sheets become the quality references for transactions up and down the supply chain.
• That the certification of the Safety Data Sheets will soon become the referenced quality standard from which to derive transparent business partnerships whilst preserving value for all involved.

The Safety Data Sheet at the Centre of the Action
Much has been written over the past on Safety Data Sheets and their role in chemicals' management. From the onset of the SDS shaping in the 1980ies, via the first EC (European Community) harmonisation efforts in 1993, the value and the visibility of the SDS has gradually increased and culminated in the extended SDSs as specified today under REACH. What used to be an area for expert specialists in generating the SDSs is now becoming the prime communication vehicle on HSE matters and Safe Use recommendations along the chemical supply chains. With the enlarged scope including exposure and risk validation, new responsibilities arise, which have yet to become assumed by all involved stakeholders. Indeed the crux with the SDSs has not so much been to provide for an all-encompassing content in writing these documents, but rather the interpretation of the information by the recipients reading the SDSs. Even more so when mixtures are prepared that rely on an array of documents of often contradictory information, all suppliers considered. This has made the SDS generation programme to become a nightmare for many entrepreneurs who at the level of SMEs often lack the expertise to conclude. Outsourcing the preparation of SDSs does not solve the problem, when related internal measures have to be derived and implemented, and when a constructive dialogue has to be carried out with suppliers and customers. As a result SDSs are mostly considered as a ‘pain in the neck' whilst hardly getting the attention of upper management, as part of their Safe Use and risk management duties, although by law they are in charge. As a consequence the quality of the SDSs can suffer enormously, as can be read again and again from inspection programmes published. This unsatisfactory situation has been the case in the past and continues to be a reality today.

However all would agree that reliable SDSs represent an asset to facilitate and demonstrate homework done, internally but above all with the external clients.  Hence checking the quality of SDSs either received or generated becomes an objective that saves time, energy and cost. It is compliance management at its best, at a level which engages equally company business functions and external stakeholders. Having the reassurance that SDSs comply with the regulatory demands provides to all the necessary reassurance that business operations can sign off for the Safe Use of their products.

Compliance Footprint-CFP provides the tools to qualify the Safety Data Sheets by means of auditing and to certify the quality level. It represents a unique and innovative system that offers the capabilities to inspect and deliver compliant Safety Data Sheets, labels and transport information. CFP defines thus a new standard to verify the conformity within the value chains, in compliance with legal demands. In particular it enables companies to manage successfully the product and material hand-over's, be it up- or down-stream.

Solution Offering
Having concluded that all things considered the Safety Data Sheet is in the centre of the action to satisfy actual compliance and Safe Use requirements, follows an outline of the procedural steps leading to the Quality Label. This is what an audit is made of with the desired outcome of a certification, thus delivering the proof that the house has been brought in good order.

Step 1: To establish a structured portfolio of all products concerned

• Considering that the management of the company‘s chemicals portfolio is at the heart of its business undertaking, it is of critical importance from business, regulatory, strategic and sustainability perspectives that the investigation starts here.
• The portfolio management approach defines priorities and provides for transparent accountabilities, given the legal mandates to meet regulatory compliance and to manage risk.
• Portfolio management is a prerequisite to become eligible for the Product CFP Quality Label. It is considered to be the foundation for sound and effective data management in support of transparent communication when executing on the Safe Use of Chemicals.
• Portfolio management will assist companies to address the threat that some 20 percent of the chemical substances are likely to disappear from the market over the next 5 to 10 years as a result of the impact of global legislation such as REACH, GHS and other.
• Portfolio management is at the onset of a systematic approach validated against Global Product Strategy that can guarantee future business success through innovation, cost optimisation and design for sustainability.

Step 2: To conduct an AS-IS and gap analysis

• As a result of the portfolio assessment the analysis is now being transferred to the representative company (extended) Safety Data Sheets that have been selected with the objective to satisfy the agreed-upon scope of the Quality Label application.
• The analysis covers the content of these representative Safety Data Sheets and validates equally the context within which the company applies its standards to generate SDSs.
• As such the verification includes REACH Annex XVII and Annex XIV requirements, classification and user label compliance with national and international regulations such as GHS applied, transportation requirements and social standards review to name a few.
• Via standardised methodology and with the help of fully integrated IT tools that allow instant retrieval of the regulatory reference base-lines, the gaps can be listed on-line and aggregated at any time.

Step 3: To assess the degree of conformity based on defined CFP criteria and CFP methodology

• Having analysed and validated the selected Safety Data Sheets the assessment of the degree of conformity represents the next step in the process.
• For that purpose the ratings as allocated in the preceding analysis become aggregated and displayed in three classes of green, yellow and red. To be noted that a red rating requires immediate remediation for the Quality Label to become allocated at that time.
• The degree of conformity is also at the onset for applying the necessary corrections, which in the case of the yellow class will be given a defined time-line for improvement to the standard reference level.

Step 4: To describe the potential for improvement and to conclude on ‘Best-in-Class' solutions

• Having assessed the degree of conformity it will now become a matter of detailing the potentials for improvement and of discussing preferred ways to implement the remediation measures in a timely manner.
• The actions proposed will preferably strive for solutions that will reflect the company's values regarding business critical capabilities, legal compliance, business and product risk management, accountability and financial possibilities.
• The adherence to Responsible Care and Sustainability principles is likely to promote the behavioural change that will allow achieving Best-in-Class solutions.

Step 5: To issue the CFP quality label by means of qualified auditors

• Having satisfied the necessary degree of conformity, the CFP Quality Label can now become issued.
• Should conformity not be passed in a first run, then the inspector would initiate the gap analysis referred to, thus enabling the company to qualify at a later point in time, once the improvement steps have been successfully enacted. 
• The CFP Quality Label defines a CFP ID code which enables just in time access to the related Safe Use information, such as via myCFP_online.com.

Summary
In cooperation with the Swiss Compliance Footprint, Intertek is offering the program CFP Quality Label and system, which ensures global regulatory compliance for products in the chemical industry. CFP is a unique and innovative assessment system that delivers the practical tools for the inspection of the Safety Data Sheets of hazardous materials, of the related labels and of the dangerous goods transport management. CFP defines a new standard to carry out the compliance review in the chemical supply chains - in accordance with prevailing laws and regulations. Companies which are in need for ensuring the regulatory compliance of their products and which have to manage HSE concerns (Health, Safety, Environment) can benefit from this simplified and innovative rating system:

• Allowing companies to comply with global chemical regulations such as REACH and GHS.
• Providing companies with the direct online accessibility to the information on the Safe Use of their chemical products.
• Reducing the conformity costs with the help of innovative IT and supported by integrated processes.
• Securing enterprise and product operations.
• Improving competitiveness.

With the access to the conformity certificates at all times, the program supports globally positioned buyers and sellers of chemicals. CFP provides for a faster and simplified global trade.

The process of the CFP Quality Label and System consists of the following five key steps to help to ensuring legal compliance:

1. On the basis of a structured portfolio a gap analysis of the correct regulatory content is carried out.
2. The level of conformity, based on defined criteria and methodology is assessed and rated.
3. The potentials for improvement are described and prioritised
4. Thus leading to Best-in-Class solutions
5. In a conclusive step the CFP Quality Label is issued

For companies seeking this Best-in-Class status a series of valuable benefits derive:

• With the purchase of CFP certified products new market incentives are being set that enhance the responsible use and handling of dangerous substances and products.
• With the increase of consumer interest in chemistry based products and articles, companies gain the opportunity to operate with transparency whilst meeting existing and forthcoming standards.
• Simplified and faster customs clearance.
• Engagement and strengthening of the marketing and sales organisations.
• Much simplified search for preferred supply partners that comply with prevailing laws and regulations.