Systematic environmental, health and safety work by the Finnish chemical industry has been carried out under the Responsible Care programme for more than ten years. During those years the programme has been updated and has encouraged companies to regenerate on their own initiative and predict changes.

The traditional measuring of emissions and investment has remained an important part of the programme. In the future, however, the Responsible Care programme and the companies committed to it will practise a greater degree of good corporate citizenship that will take into account the whole production chain and its services.

The long-term RC work carried out by the Finnish chemical industry is highly appreciated by the rest of the world. The persons responsible for the programme at the Chemical Industry Federation have trained organization and company representatives from future member states of the European Union, the focus of attention in 2002 being the Baltic countries.

Countries where good practices and principles have been observed for years transfer this know-how to other countries where there is, as yet, no equivalent culture. Finnish know-how has been exported in particular to Estonia, where attempts are being made to resolutely construct an efficient organization structure for the chemical industry. Resources for training have come from the European Union's PHARE fund. The Baltic Forum has been set up for the induction of the Baltic countries. Its first meeting was held at Riga in Latvia in the spring of 2002. Good reason for cooperation will, at the least, be given by the EU's new chemical strategy, for which proposals are expected during the spring of 2003.

Responsible care is the chemical industry's voluntary environmental, health and safety programme. It is being implemented in more than 40 countries. The Chemical Industry Federation is responsible for conducting it in Finland.

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