COVID-19 helpdesk
The European Chemical Industry ’s COVID-19 Helpdesk
The outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe has affected all of us – our countries, our communities, our families. It has also affected all of Europe’s manufacturing industries, including the chemical industry, which has been playing a crucial role in helping Governments, other industrial sectors and communities to tackle the crisis. During the past several weeks our industry’s top priority has been to ensure the health and safety of our employees and to secure supplies of critical chemicals into medical, environmental and food supply chains amidst border closures and lockdown measures. Key examples include biocides for disinfectants,non-woven fabrics for mouthmasks and wastewater treatments for drinking water.
Cefic and its members have also closely worked with EU and Member States authorities to help them strengthen critical supply chains during this unprecedented public health crisis, including:
- Providing the European Commission with the industry’s recommendations to secure EU cross-border freight transport and guarantee supply chains of essential goods;
- Working with the European Commission and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on facilitating the application of the derogation under Article 55 of the Biocides Product Regulation for substances with reported shortages;
- Calling on the EU Health Commissioner to provide necessary support to manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) so that they could ramp up production of these substances to meet increasing demand in medicines.
- Serving in continual contact with national chemical industry associations in all EU Member States and CEOs of all Cefic Board members to identify possible supply chain disruptions. We immediately transmit this information to the European Commission and relevant EU agencies and look for solutions together.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the European Commission and EU Member States have also taken a number of extraordinary regulatory measures and guidelines to ensure the functioning of the EU Single Market and to prevent shortages of critical supplies. To help its members navigate this new environment, Cefic has set up a dedicated COVID-19 Helpdesk. Please get in touch with one of our experts if you have questions:
Contact your focal point
- Biocides issues : biocides@cefic.be
- Transport and Logistics issues: TransportAndLogistics@cefic.be
- Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients : COVID19-EFCG@cefic.be
- Cross-border Tariffs and Duties: CrossborderTariffsAndDuties@cefic.be
- For Food and European Food Safety Authority matters : FoodSafety@cefic.be
- For Petrochemicals product specific issues contact : PetrochemicalProducts@cefic.be
- For European Chemicals Agency matters (non Biocides) : ChemicalAgency@cefic.be
Any other question: email our general COVID19 help desk : COVID19Helpdesk@cefic.be
Media Request: Press officer – Maria Linkova-Nijs – +32 2 4369354 – mln@cefic.be
Useful links
- Belgium Federal Public Service – Health, Food Chain and Environment
- The European actions
- The European Commission > Transport > Coronavirus response
- The European Chemical Agency > COVID-19
- Fecc maps on logistics
- Practical Guide on Fast-Tracking the Supply of Disinfectants during the COVID-19 Pandemic under the EU Biocides Rules
- World Trade Organisation > COVID19
- World Health Organisation COVID 19 Guidelines
Links to the websites of national chemical industry federations:
- Austria FCIO – Fachverband der Chemischen Industrie Österreichs http://www.fcio.at
- Belgium Essencia http://www.essenscia.be
- Czech Republic SCHP – Association of Chemical Industry of the Czech Republic http://www.schp.cz
- Denmark Confederation of Danish Industri (DI) https://www.pb.dk
- Finland KT RY – Kemianteollisuus ry http://www.chemind.fi
- France France Chimie http://www.francechimie.fr/
- Germany VCI – Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V.http://www.chemische-industrie.de
- Greece HACI – Hellenic Association of Chemical Industries http://www.haci.gr
- Hungary MAVESZ – Hungarian Chemical Industry Association http://www.mavesz.hu
- Ireland BioPharmaChem Ireland http://www.ibec.ie/ipcmf
- Italy FEDERCHIMICA – Federazione Nazionale dell’Industria Chimica http://www.federchimica.it
- Netherlands VNCI – Vereniging van de Nederlandse Chemische Industrie http://www.vnci.nl
- Norway Norsk Industri http://www.norskindustri.no
- Poland PIPC – Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry http://www.pipc.org.pl
- Portugal APQuímica – Associação Portuguesa da Química Petroquímica e Refinação http://www.apquimica.pt
- Slovak Republic ZCHFP – Association of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry of the Slovak Republic / Zväz chemického a farmaceutického priemyslu Slovenskej republiky http://www.zchfp.sk
- Slovenia GZS – CCIS-Association of Chemical Industries of Slovenia / GZS-Združenje kemijske industrije www.gzs.si/zdruzenje_kemijske_industrije and www.pravakemija.si
- Spain FEIQUE – Federacion Empresarial de la Industria Quimica Espanola http://www.feique.org
- Sweden IKEM – Innovation and Chemical Industries in Sweden http://www.ikem.se/
- Switzerland Scienceindustries www.scienceindustries.ch
- Turkey TKSD – Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association http://www.tksd.org.tr
- United Kingdom CIA – Chemical Industries Association http://www.cia.org.uk
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Our industry’s response to COVID-19
The European chemical industry has been playing an essential role during the COVID-19 crisis.
Understanding their responsibility in this unprecedented crisis, Cefic’s members have been pushing their capacity limits to meet the exponential rise in demand for essential supplies in the countries where they operate.
They increased production of critical supplies such as: disinfectants, diagnostic tests, ventilators, protective masks, gloves and gowns, Intensive Care Unit medicines and equipment, and protective clothing.