The U.S. government says it has identified Nigeria as one of the most viable countries to promote chemical security for a safer world.

Daniel Rockniak, senior director of American Chemistry Council, said this in Abuja on Wednesday at a workshop tagged ‘Promoting Chemical Security for a Safer World’.

According to him, Nigeria is one of those countries we have identified as hopefully good locations for responsible care, and that’s why we are here to start this workshop.

He said that his mission was to talk to stakeholders handling chemical distribution about how the country could manage chemical distribution responsibly.

He said it was imperative to identify the organisations that sponsor responsible care in Nigeria. He stated that the US was about to supplement the regulations on chemical distribution in the country rather than complement them.

He said that if there were challenges with regulatory processes, responsible care could help fill some of those gaps by using best practices around the world to improve their chemical management.

Patrick Omopariola, director of chemical Evaluation and Research at NAFDAC, said the concept of chemical safety has existed for many years.

He said, “Everyone that has contact with chemicals and chemistry already knows that chemicals are inherently hazardous and dangerous, so we have to be kept in such a way to be safe.”

He said that the real concept of chemical security started after the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks.

He said that NAFDAC had adopted the United States’ chemical security programmes and was implementing them in the country. He stated that these had been developed to ensure that citizens could keep chemicals safe.

(NAN)