SOCMA Points to FTAs as Among Top Issues for the Trade Association
The chemical industry would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of completed free trade agreements currently being negotiated and work on the FTAs will be among the top goals for the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates in 2014, said SOCMA Vice President of Government Relations Bill Allmond in a press release. "It's important for members of our organization to work collaboratively with the government to seek new global markets and remove any regulatory barriers that would hinder industry expansion," Allmond said. "Major growth areas in the specialty chemicals industry are in the emerging regions such as Asia due to an increase in manufacturing in those regions. So our [SOCMA and the government] collaboration has got to continue into next year."
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The trade group has already been heavily involved in negotiations between the U.S. and E.U. for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, Allmond said. "Data show that the U.S. chemical industry stands to benefit the most from an FTA with the E.U. -- over $1.0 billion in duties were assessed on U.S. chemical exports last year. Organic chemicals would benefit the most, saving U.S. chemical manufacturers that export these chemicals nearly $600 million," Allmond said.
"There are some regulatory barriers that SOCMA has identified that need to be addressed between the U.S. and E.U.," Allmond said. For instance, the E.U.'s Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) policy, is especially onerous on U.S. specialty chemical manufacturers, said SOCMA. The REACH policy, according to the E.U., "makes industry responsible for assessing and managing the risks posed by chemicals and providing appropriate safety information to their users."