In 2002, the United States exported $81.1 billion worth of chemicals and allied products, and imported $86 billion worth of chemicals. For that reason, CHEMTREC maintains strong relationships with several foreign emergency centers as well as cooperative relationships with international chemical industry associations. These relationships help us gather and share needed information in those cases where an incident involves a foreign shipment. Currently, CHEMTREC has strong relationships and working procedures with centers in Mexico, the UK, and Canada.
CHEMTREC works with international associations to encourage other countries to follow the US industry example and establish CHEMTREC-like centers where none exist. In recent years, CHEMTREC sent representatives to China, South Korea, Europe, and Thailand. We have hosted delegations from Singapore, Japan, Argentina, Venezuela, and other countries. This is an effort that we will continue to pursue, even more aggressively now than in the past.