Ten years on

I will ‘celebrate’ ten years in this job on Saturday 11 February by flying – inverted commas because I’m terrified of flying, so I am clearly in the wrong job! – to New Orleans for Informex. Amazing to think it is ten years since I joined what was then DMG World Media, enticed by the prospect of a week in one of America’s greatest cities?

Like so many tourists, I fell for the charms of New Orleans straight away back in 2002 and again in 2003. The show was meant to return there in 2006, but had to be moved to Orlando, by far the least engaging venue of the past decade, because of the devastation wrought on the city by Hurricane Katrina.

When we finally did return two years later, the scale of this became bleakly apparent once you drove a short distance away from the French Quarter and the convention centre. Abandoned homes and dirty, battered landscapes were everywhere, the man who drove us to join up on a swamp tour was among many still living in mobile homes.

In this context, it is good to be able to mention that the pharmaceuticals supply chain body Rx-360 (www.rx-360.org) is actually doing something to help during Informex 2012. On 14 February, the day before Informex opens, members and prospective members will join to work on a Habitat for Humanity home to rehouse a New Orleans family. If you are going and can help, please contact dede.godstrey@dbr.com.

Debatably, public disgust at the Bush government’s perceived indifference to the fate of New Orleans was a key factor in the election of Barack Obama in late 2008. Now we are coming up to another presidential election year, which will have implications of some sort for the US fine, custom and speciality chemicals sectors, and the electioneering is in full swing already.

(Of course I wouldn’t dream of making a cynical aside about how in the party that will face off against Obama, the leading candidate has been criticised by his leading rival for his … drum roll … ability to speak French. Having lived in France for two years as a young man. Not me. I wouldn’t do a thing like that…)

SOCMA, the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates, was quick to sound a cautionary note about Obama’s State of the Union address in late January. “It sounded more like a campaign speech than a legislative wish list,” the former organiser of Informex said in a statement soon after.

While stressing the importance of manufacturing, Obama still fell short of addressing how the US will renew its robust manufacturing capability. For instance, his administration has not made permanent the R&D credit, an area in which the US led the world in the 1980s and now lags behind China and Canada, among others.

In addition, SOCMA says, little to nothing has been done since Obama last year instructed agencies to review regulations to streamline or eliminate them so burdens would be reduced on manufacturing. Meanwhile, the chemicals industry is “staring down numerous regulations threatening its ability to compete”, such as the EPA’s Boiler MACT rule.

Finally, SOCMA notes that Congress has approved for free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama but the administration waited months to submit the agreed versions. SOCMA is also worried about Obama’s plans to fold the Small Business Administration and US Trade Representative into the Commerce Department, something it believes to be bad for chemical manufacturers.

Free trade is probably the key issue for the industry worldwide because chemicals, directly or indirectly, are exchanged at astronomical volumes. In December, the ICCA expressed its disappointment at the failure of the latest round of international talks to yield anything substantial in this issue. It shows once again how vulnerable industry is to the unpredictable tide of politics, domestic or international.