No longer can a company simply focus on what is happening in their own backyard. We have long accepted that we operate in a global economy. Now it is becoming increasingly clear that programs adopted by other countries, as well as corporations truly impact the operations of the screen- and digital-printing industries. To remain successful, a company has to be aware of decisions made by other national governments, as well as multinational corporations. This is definitely a new way of conducting business in the USA.

The good news is that the key issues impacting our industry can be easily identified. Several key initiatives will dramatically change the way the average printing facility conducts business. Two issues are authored by European Agencies, while the third is being driven by multinational corporations and the marketplace.

The Global Harmonization Standard : The new and improved Right to Know

All are familiar with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Right to Know or Hazard Communication Standard. This standard requires us to effectively communicate the chemical hazards found in our workplaces to our employees on a regular basis. For quite a while, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been working on the development of a Global Harmonization Standard, or GHS. At first blush, one may wish to offer congratulations to the ISO for undertaking this extensive venture. Long have facilities requested one form for all Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), as well as one set of symbols for labeling purposes.

However, the GHS is not in itself a regulation or a model regulation. It is a framework derived from the existing major international systems from which countries may select the appropriate harmonized classification & communication elements and decide individually how to apply the various elements of the GHS within their own systems. So, even within the GHS framework, individual countries may choose which elements to implement. The important GHS elements include the following:

• harmonized criteria for classifying substances and mixtures according to their health, environmental and physical hazards

• harmonized hazard communication elements, including requirements for label ing and MSDSs.

As stated, the GHS itself is not a regulation. The harmonized elements of the GHS may be seen as a collection of building blocks from which a country can form a regulatory approach. Individual countries are free to determine which of the elements within the GHS framework to adopt. It is important to recognize that the GHS system is not intended to harmonize risk assessment procedures or risk management decisions (e.g., permissive exposure limits), which generally require some risk assessment in addition to hazard classification.

OSHA is in the process of adopting the GHS system. The Agency did issue a proposal, comments were offered, and now the Agency is considering and deliberating its next step. Based on discussions, it appears likely that the Agency will adopt the recommended 16-section MSDS format, based on the ANSI standard. It appears likely that OSHA will issue its final rule by the end of this calendar year.

However, as mentioned in the opening paragraphs, facilities, especially those providing substances requiring MSDSs, cannot afford to focus solely on US actions. Canada, as well as the European Union may indeed act sooner than the United States on this issue.

EU Activity

Actions taken by the European Union (EU) impacting facilities here in the States continue. Last year, we saw the implementation of the trade directive, Restriction of Hazardous Substances, and its companion environmental directive, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, become effective in the European Union. This year, after much debate, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) regulation enters into force.

REACH is a new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use (EC 1907/2006). The new law entered into force on June 1, 2007, and the first registration deadline is June 2008. However, the regulation’s effective dates are based on tonnage of che-micals produced, so it behooves the chemical manufacturer who exports to the EU to determine the registration time frames.

The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced. The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH.

The REACH regulation gives greater responsibility to the industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. Manufacturers and importers will be required to gather information on the properties of their chemical substances, which will allow their safe handling, and to register the information in a central database run by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki, Finland. The Agency will act as the central point in the REACH system: It will manage the databases necessary to operate the system, coordinate the in-depth evaluation of suspicious chemicals, and run a public database in which consumers and professionals can find hazard information.

What is alarming with the new regulation is that it not only impacts chemical manufacturers, but also printers who are manufacturing articles that are exported to the EU. The supply chain issue is an area of ongoing debate; however, many multinational companies are beginning to request certification from their suppliers regarding the raw materials they use to manufacturer their completed products. No longer can a printing facility safely assume that a chemical regulation does not impact them.

Next step: corporate sustainability

With the advent of these overarching regulatory programs, it is no wonder that the topic of corporate sustainability is everywhere in the news these days. The multinational companies feel the pressure to exhibit good corporate citizenship. It is a crucial issue for major corporations such Nike, Wal-Mart, and Procter & Gamble, as well as other major customers for the specialty imaging industry.

But it’s tricky to find a standard definition for corporate sustainability in the typical specialty imaging operation. Perhaps the best definition can be found in Ecology of Commerce, widely perceived as the definitive book on sustainability. In his book, Paul Hawken offers the following: “Sustainability is an economic state where the demands placed upon the environment by people and commerce can be met without reducing the capacity of the environment to provide for future generations. It can also be expressed in the simple terms of an economic golden rule for the restorative economy: leave the world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm life of the environment, make amends if you do.”

Sustainability means creating a better quality of life for all people now, and for generations to come, and using the planet’s resources at a rate at which nature is able to replenish them. It’s a smart way of doing business, and a method that is increasingly in demand in our competitive global economy.

With sustainability strategies, prosperity, fairness, and a healthy environment are all interrelated—each of these elements can only sustain its existence indefinitely when the others are in balance. A sustainable business strives to achieve high standards by creating value for its investors, customers, suppliers, employees, and communities.

The printing industry will continue to be an integral part of the world’s manufacturing community. Print plays a vital role in communication, education, and daily existence. The printing industry understands its effect on the natural world and accepts responsibility to continue its efforts to reduce its over-all environmental impact.

As an industry sector, we are being asked to print on biodegradable products, compostable products, and with green ink systems. The difficulty lies in the definition of these terms, and the important fact that consistent definitions or benchmarks do not exist for the printing industry. The second most important concept to grasp when considering sustainability is that there is no silver bullet that a company can implement that will instantly make them sustainable. Recycling products and using less solvent in production are great goals, but they do not create a sustainable company. A sustainable company develops a strategy to integrate principles of people, profit, and planet into its business framework.

Sustainable businesses adopt strategies and activities that allow the enterprise and its stakeholders to realize their profit goals in ways that protect, sustain, and restore the earth’s life support systems for future generations. Ultimately, the printing industry strives to become sustainable by incorporating principles of economic, corporate, and social responsibility, as well as environmental stewardship, into business operations while adhering to sustainable business practices.

In the long run, sustainable practices can help specialty imaging companies to lower their operation costs, gain a competitive advantage in the market, and maintain a loyal customer and employee base. It has often been said, “Sustainability will be successful because it is economically sound,” because a bus-iness seeking sustainability is developing meaningful, long-term economic, environmental, and societal policies in its overall makeup.

To help the printing facility start down the pathway of sustainability, the Sustainable Green Printing (SGP) Partnership was born. The group was formed by a collection of printing industry trade organizations, including the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF), the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA), and SGIA. The intent of this coalition is to provide direction for the printing industry, as well as develop consensus on the use of terms within the industry. The goal of the SGP partnership is to create a registry of printers who are truly moving down the sustainability path. Presently SGP is developing criteria that printing companies will be required to meet before being recognized as operating as sustainable businesses and earning an SGP Printer designation. More information about the coalition can be found at www.sgppartnership.org. Our global economy dictates that a facility look beyond its traditional backyard. We are operating within a different paradigm. Not only will we need to respond to regulatory challenges at home and abroad, but also to new pressures for responsible and sustainable business operation that originate from within the marketplace.

Marcia Y. Kinter is vice president for government and business information with SGIA. She represents association members before federal and state regulatory agencies and the US Congress on environmental, safety, labor, trade, and other issues directly impacting screen-printing and graphic-imaging businesses. Kinter is a member of the Academy of Screen Printing Technology.