Fecc European Responsible Care Programme

Fecc developed the European Responsible Care Programme as a pan-European tailor-made initiative for distributors.

The programme aims to accelerate the progress of RC at a European level and boost recognition of credible implementation by suppliers and customers.
The programme’s core principles are based on the eight guiding principles of the International Chemical Trade Association’ (ICTA) joint Responsible Case & Distribution Programme. Another important aspect is that companies applying the programme undergo independent third party assessment by, for example, SQAS Distributor/ESAD, demonstrating its quality, safety, and environmental performance.

The Fecc European RC programme is developed especially for Fecc members such as:

companies operating in European countries where no national association exists
national associations that need support with the implementation of RC in their country or are currently applying the manufacturers’ RC programme
pan-European companies operating in more than one country that are authorised by the respective national associations to apply the programme
About EFCTC
How to apply in four steps!

If you wish to join the Fecc European Responsible Care Programme, please fill in the following documents and send them to Gerhard Ahlbrecht gah@fecc.org

Chief Executive’s Commitment
In order to formalise the preparedness of the top management to follow the RC guiding principles, a formal commitment to these principles shall be signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or the Managing Director of each company.
Appointment of a Responsible Care Coordinator
The RC Coordinator is responsible for the implementation of the European Responsible Care Programme in the company.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
The companies are committed to report annually on their performance in terms of health, safety, security, quality and environment, as well as on the continual improvement of this performance. This commitment requires the annual reporting of the KPI’s as indicated in the Fecc questionnaire.

Fecc verifies the implementation of the Programme. Proof that third party assessment has taken place needs to be submitted to Fecc. The compliance verification with the Fecc European RC Programme is performed by Fecc’s RC Manager. Verification includes an analysis of the third party assessment report in order to verify the compliance against Responsible Care requirements.

If your company has not yet completed a third party assessment, you may still opt for a ‘candidate’ status. This means that you can use the RC logo -on a temporary basis- if you send a self-assessment to Fecc, for example the ESAD Di questionnaire. The candidate status is only an interim situation as a date for the completion of the third party verification needs to be set within a year.

The Responsible Care Committee

The promotion of Responsible Care is a priority to Fecc and its Responsible Care Committee. The Fecc Responsible Care Committee has been established to strengthen and develop as well as to coordinate the Responsible Care programme within the National Associations. The Committee monitors the developments of the Responsible Care programme at European level (e.g. yearly collection and review of Performance Indicators), ensures an active promotion and communication of Responsible Care, carries out educational initiatives (e.g. RC Seminars and conferences) and discuss distributors’ positions on Product Stewardship.

SQAS Distributor/ESAD

Fecc also promotes the use of the European Single Assessment Document (ESAD) as a third party assessment of the companies’ commitment to Responsible Care. For more information on ESAD, please visit the website: www.sqas.org