About ECTA

ECTA’s mission is to set standards for the transport and logistics of chemical goods in Europe and the goal is about improving efficiency, safety and security, as well as the environmental and social impacts of the industry. 

more about ecta's work

  • ECTA develops Best Practices in the transport and logistics of chemical goods in Europe.

    • Joint studies in co-operation with ECTA’s members, other associations with related interests, authorities and institutions. More over, these are worked out for Europe at a regional, national or international level.
    • ECTA Responsible Care Program (RC) for the Europan chemical land transport sector.
  • ECTA provides the chemical transport industry with an authorative voice at European level.

    • Communicate the industry’s views effectively to key audiences, authorities and institutions within Europe at regional, national and international level. 
    • ECTA co-operates and participates in the dialogue between logistics service providers, the Chemical Industry, authorities and institutions. 
    • The aim is to pro-actively improve health, safety, security and environmental performance of the industry.
  • ECTA exchanges information with its members and stakeholders on its activities. 
  • ECTA respects the EU competition rules in all its activities and promotes them amongst its members. Read the Do’s and Don’ts. 

ECTA's history

In October 1997, the European Chemical Road Transport Association (ECRTA) was formed by Europe’s chemical hauliers. It took part at the 24th Logistics Meeting, organized by the European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) in Barcelona. 
The aim was about creating a platform for representing their interests in discussion with international regulatory bodies and major chemical producer associations. 

ECRTA would not only support the carriage of chemicals by road, but the intermodal transport too. Therefore the name has been changed to European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA). This name reflects that all modes of transportation (including rail and inland waterways) are represented by ECTA.
ECTA has been granted by Royal Decree of 11 February 1999 legal personality as an international non-profit organization in accordance with Belgian law. 

about ecta Workgroups

Since then, ECTA has formed numerous workgroups, many of them with chemical producers. The aim is to develop best practices. These are about standardisation and improvements in safety, health, security, productivity and environmental protection.

Ecta Responsible Care launch

On 13 February 2009, ECTA officially launched its Responsible Care Program (RC) for the European chemical land transport sector. A partnership agreement with the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) was signed. ECTA was the first association to launch a European wide RC program in the logistics field.

The RC program started with 19 European transport companies which signed the program. Since then the number of committed members is increasing. Those members implement the RC principles to their strategy, management and daily operations.