ITCO and @tco combine

A LOUDER VOICE FOR ASIA

ASSOCIATIONS • THE MERGER OF ITCO AND @TCO PROMISES A STRONGER VOICE FOR THE TANK CONTAINER INDUSTRY BUT @TCO’S WORK IN ASIA WILL CONTINUE, STRESSES REG LEE

A YEAR AGO, Reg Lee was re-elected as president of the International Tank Container Organisation (ITCO), a post he had left six years previously after a disagreement over the Organisation’s approach to Asia. Lee was convinced that Asia represents the future for the tank container business, not just in terms of tank manufacturing but also in terms of trade and tank employment.

Undaunted, Lee and technical director Graham Wood immediately formed the Asian Tank Container Organisation (@tco), with a clear mission to help promote tank container use in China and east and south-east Asia. A major part of that work was the establishment of a depot audit scheme, which aimed to set a quality benchmark for tank cleaning and repair equivalent to the standards observed in Europe and North America.

That audit scheme has been particularly successful, Lee says, with more than 25 depots having passed @tco’s strict inspection procedures and being entitled to display the @tco audit placard at their premises. STILL THE VOICE FOR ASIA Having taken up the reins once more at ITCO at the beginning of 2017, Lee promised to spend his two-year term bringing the two organisations together under a single name. He believes that having a full-time president – rather than one occupying the role alongside his or her normal corporate responsibilities – will allow The International Tank Container Organisation (which incorporates both ITCO and @tco) to make faster progress with its programmes. Lee’s re-appointment was also tacit admission on the part of ITCO that his ideas about Asia were right all along.

Lee also stresses that the two original logos will be used on the new website and the @tco depot audit programme will continue, with Graham Wood also promising to see it through to the end of 2018 in order to ensure a smooth handover.

Lee recalls that the @tco depot audit scheme was prompted by the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM), the trade body representing international chemical companies in China. Until the @tco scheme was developed there were no standards for tank depots in the region; some were doing what they could to provide a quality service but many others were clearly not.

AICM also wanted the audits to be carried out by independent surveyors; existing surveyors were often regarded as being too close to the depots to give an objective view. There was, Lee said, an expectation in some quarters that the audit scheme would immediately bring Asian standards up to those common in Europe but it has not been as simple as that. For one thing, not all depots need to offer the same level of service – they provide what their customers need. That is reflected in the @tco audit certification system, which recognises different levels of capability.

Nevertheless, Lee says that Asia has achieved a pace of change over the past six years that it took Europe and North America three decades to work through. @tco has been able to bring the expertise of its board to bear not just on tank cleaning and repair standards but also on issues relating to the transport and use of tank containers and the safety of those who work with them.

BRINGING ASIA TO THE WORLD Lee and Wood are now aiming to merge their experience with @tco back into the combined organisation. Most notably, Lee says, “Asia is where the market is; ITCO without Asia is going nowhere.” Moreover, the global business has to change as Asia changes. “Without Asia you’re just a local player,” Lee insists. But

he is also aware that doing business in Asia needs a different and more flexible approach compared to the more established markets.

Lee is aiming to have the two organisations fully integrated by the end of his tenure in December 2018. To that end, the combined organisation will be focusing on China in 2018 and will be holding two meetings in Asia: one alongside the Transport Logistic show in Shanghai in May and another in Singapore in November. The older markets will not be totally forgotten, though: there will be another meeting in Antwerp during the third quarter.

The transition to a combined organisation is, Lee says, “going remarkably well”. The process has been helped by the fact that ITCO and @tco share a lot of corporate representation. Most of the @tco board members have colleagues on the ITCO board, for instance. Two joint board meetings have already been held, one in Europe and one in Singapore. All @tco members have been invited to move over to the combined organisation and many have already taken up that invitation. That message was reiterated at @tco’s final standalone meeting, which took place in November in Shanghai.

LOOK TO THE FUTURE From the very beginning, @tco’s mission was to be the ‘voice for Asia’ and, Lee says, “We’re not walking away from that – we’re just adding the rest of the world.” There are, though, other missions to be put in place. For a start, Lee believes that the new organisation needs to make more effort to push information out to its membership and the wider world of tank users. To that end, the new website is currently being upgraded, and will carry both the ITCO and @tco logos.

Another task will be to leverage the work done to develop an e-learning program to help spread understanding of the tank container concept and improve operating standards. Lee thinks all ITCO members should be given freer access to the e-learning program, if only to help educate those who are new to the industry. “They are going to play a big part in the future,” he says.

Quite clearly, a lot of those people coming new to the tank container industry are going to be located in Asia. @tco has made a start on its mission but it is not yet complete: Lee’s remarks at the first @tco meeting in Singapore in June 2011 are still valid.

In many parts of Asia steel drums still play a major role in the movement of liquid products, including dangerous goods. The tank container offers a much safer, efficient and cost-effective way of doing that. And, thanks in no small part to @tco’s efforts, there is now a much wider provision of the tank cleaning and repair services that are vital to ensure that tanks can be kept fully employed and can do their job with the highest levels of safety to people and the environment and with the greatest care for the products they are called on to carry. HCB www.itco.org

REG LEE (THIRD FROM LEFT) EXPLAINS THAT THE

COMBINATION OF ITCO AND @TCO WILL CARRY ON THE

WORK NEEDED TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE TANK

CONTAINER’S ADVANTAGES INTO NEW TERRITORIES