02 Apr BSEF around the world: India Bromine Platform meets to discuss bromine industry initiatives in India

In 2019, BSEF had collaborated with the Indian Chemical Council, India’s apex chemical industry body, and Avalon Consulting, BSEF’s India consulting partners, to launch the India Bromine Platform (IBP)^[1], a unique cross-industry initiative aimed fostering the bromine industry in India by promoting the benefits of bromine and bromine-based technologies by working with bromine producers and suppliers in India. Since its inception, IBP has been meeting to brainstorm initiatives in the Indian context, and the 3^rd meeting of the IBP was held on 27-28^th February in Mumbai, India. The meeting was hosted by Agrocel Industries, one of the IBP members, and it saw participation from all 7 IBP member companies as well as the Indian Chemical Council.

The IBP looks at initiatives at 2 levels: while the leadership from member companies discusses strategic initiatives across applications and policy & regulations, a dedicated safety working group comprising safety professionals from member companies focuses on specific initiatives related to safe bromine handling. The discussions in Mumbai were held across 2 days, with the leadership group meeting on 27^th Feb and the safety working group on 28^th Feb. The discussions were facilitated by Avalon Consulting

India is expected to formulate a comprehensive chemicals policy shortly, and on day 1 the leadership group discussed alignment and impact of the bromine industry in the larger context of the upcoming policy. Members also deliberated recent interactions with external stakeholders and other key developments to brainstorm how these could be leveraged. The leadership also discussed the safe bromine handling initiatives, a key theme for IBP and BSEF, as Dr. Kevin Bradley, Secretary General, BSEF, highlighted during his presentation at the Asia Pacific Responsible Care conference in Seoul, Korea in Nov 2019. A roadmap was defined on sensitising stakeholders and actioning safety practices. During the safety working group meeting on day 2, members discussed the bromine safety handbook that has been created through inputs from all member companies, and how best practices documented in the handbook could now be disseminated to a larger audience both within the IBP as well as key external stakeholders. Novel ideas were brainstormed to increase the reach and adoption of key safety practices. A guest session on process safety was also organised to sensitise members on the larger safety paradigm.

Working with stakeholders in India and sharing global knowledge is part of BSEF’s commitment to safety and responsible practices in the industry, and with several initiatives underway both for safe bromine handling as well as for the bromine industry as a whole, BSEF has established a strong foundation for greater collaboration with stakeholders in India

Sources

^[1] http://www.indianchemicalcouncil.com/indian-bromine-platform.htm