The objective of this Working Group is to provide support to ESA Members on materials used in the manufacture of sealing products. In particular, the Working group focuses on raw materials which are deemed to be of "strategic" importance to the industry, such as:
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fibres |
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solvents |
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seal face materials |
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metals / alloys |
The overall aim is to keep a watching brief on all key raw materials used across the technologies of the industry, and which would have a substantial impact on sealing products if supply was drastically limited (for whatever reason).
Consequently, many of the suppliers to the sealing industry are involved in this Working Group.
As in all activities of the ESA, the focus of attention is on pre-competitive areas which are generic rather than Company-specific.
The Working Group considers aspects of:
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material supply |
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health and safety |
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environmental issues |
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legislation |
and as such, it is establishing an "early warning system" in order to be able to influence developments across the European Union which might affect the supply or use of any of these important materials.
One example of this focus of activity resulted from the EU Directive 97/69/EC and the German App. V, Nr. 7, GefStoffV. The Directive 97/69/EC on the Classification, Packaging and Labelling of Dangerous Substances was formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 1997 December 5. This was agreed by qualified majority vote, with only Germany voting against the Directive. Unilaterally, Germany has introduced a new piece of legislation, entitled Appendix V, No. 7, Ordinance on Dangerous Chemicals (Gefahrstoffverordnung), which contradicts some of the requirements of the EU Directive. This has a number of implications for sealing materials and the ESA has introduced a Position Statement as guidance.
