NIST Examines Impact of Chemical Controls
September 25, 2006 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The costs of dealing with multiple chemical regulations and control requirements in different markets goes far beyond the chemical industry itself.
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), chemicals and chemical products contribute 16% of the value of material inputs in the automotive sector, 33% of the value of material inputs used to make semiconductors and 30% of the value of medical supplies.
The European Union's End-of-Life-Vehicles (ELV) Directive, for example, affected thousands of U.S. automotive suppliers.
A study conducted by the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) found that the average cost for inputting data into the International Material Data System (IMDS) - a tool for complying with the ELV requirements - was $75 per simple raw material, and up to $2,500 per complex assembly.
In 2002, an Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) project team used this information to estimate that total costs to the entire U.S. supply chain for ELV compliance would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
NIST has been working with U.S. industry to address this increasing pressure on manufacturers from emerging chemical controls and regulations from countries, including China and the European Union (EU).
According to NIST, the suite of issues stemming from regulatory actions in various markets, as well as global reporting and management efforts, has serious cost and market implications both for manufacturers of chemicals and for chemicals users, and are potential barriers to innovation.
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).