First Awareness Workshop on Cleaning Products by CAMP

While an average consumer may be familiar with the different types of cleaning products in the market, such as hand soap and detergents, what he or she is not usually aware is that the chemicals in these common household items may cause harm to the environment and to the users if the products are not used in a safe and responsible manner. A few years ago in Korea, the unsafe use of biocides – one of the common chemicals found in household humidifiers – have resulted in fatalities and prompted the Korean authorities to impose regulatory actions on the companies.

Driven by the need to promote safe and quality cleaning products in Singapore, a new Cleaning Products and Material Protection (CAMP) Committee was formed earlier this year under SMF’s Energy and Chemicals Industry Group (E&C IG), to take pro-active steps to keep the environment and consumers safe from harmful chemicals. The committee aims to establish a network of local and international professionals including manufacturers, suppliers, government authorities, and other relevant external agencies, to address the quality and standards of the cleaning and material protection products (e.g. paint and varnish), while ensuring that there is no barriers to trade.

Members in the CAMP Committee include representatives from NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd, 3M Technologies (S) Pte Ltd, Lam Soon Group, Ecolab Pte Ltd, Nalco Champion, and Lonza Singapore Pte Ltd. Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) is also a committee member.

To start, the committee organised its first awareness workshop on 2 October 2015 at Suntec City Convention Centre. Some 40 participants attended the workshop to gain a deeper understanding on the risks, management, and regulatory landscape of the cleaning and material protection industry segment. The workshop featured various speakers who are experts in their respective fields: Dr Khoo Keng Meng, Chairman of CAMP Committee and the Head of Regulatory Assurance (Asia Pacific) for Lonza; Dr Park Sang-Hee, Chief Executive of Chemtopia Co. Ltd; Mr Rajnish Maharaj, Head of Regulatory Affairs (South and Southeast Asia) for Ecolab, and Mr Albert Khoo, Business Development and Regulatory Affairs Manager for 3M Technologies.

Close to 40 participants attended the workshop

Dr Park’s presentation, in particular, focused on the regulatory, quality and safety of cleaning products in Korea, where the legislation K-REACH was implemented after the aforementioned fatal incidents involving humidifier biocides. After her insightful presentation, a panel discussion was held for the speakers to exchange views with the participants, as well as to address questions from the floor.

The speakers actively interacted with the participants during the panel discussion

“The workshop is useful as it shares regulatory concepts with others within the industry. I learned about the regulations of other countries and their business operations, which may come in handy in the future. I hope for more conferences and workshops like this one in the future to figure out what kinds of regulations are appropriate for the industry,” said Mr Nick Choi, one of the participants at the workshop.

The committee has indeed set plans for the future. Dr Khoo pointed out that the committee is currently studying the feasibility of potential schemes to promote the quality, safety, and standards of cleaning products. Future workshops will focus on material protection products and specialty chemicals and biocides.

He added, “Cleaning products are everywhere and yet, there is no trade association or platform representing this segment of the industry. That was a key motivation for SMF [to set up CAMP].”

“CAMP is a good initiative that can benefit our environment and consumers. SMF can provide the necessary support for the committee by tapping into its base of 3,000 corporate members,” concluded Mr Simon Li, Chairman of SMF E&C IG.

Mr Simon Li (left), Chairman of E&C IG, with Dr Khoo Keng Meng (right), Chairman of the CAMP Committee