MINUTES OF THE MEETING Date: 18th Feb 2017, 1100 to 1400 at HOTEL Westin, Mumbai

Representatives Present

Name Abbreviation Company

Shyam Basrur SB Basrur Uniseal Pvt Ltd

Basrur Uniseal Pvt Ltd

Parth Dave PD Dave Engineers Pvt Ltd

Sandy Van De Broeck SVB European Sealing Association & DONIT Tesnit D.o.o

Saikumar SK DONIT Tesnit D.o.o

Sunil Tawde ST Eagle Burgmaan

Shyam B. Ubale SU Eagle Burgmaan

Girish Malviya GM ELCA Labs India

Nik Thandi NT Flexitallic UK

Satya Rao SR Interface Performance Materials

Rajib Roy RR JD Jones & Co Pvt Ltd

Hitesh HO Oiltech Consultancy

Darshan Parekh DP PILOT Gaskets

Ameet A SGS India Pvt Ltd

Sadashiv SS Teadit Packings & Gaskets Pvt Ltd

Representatives Absent:

Name Company

Mohit Goyal Superlite Jointings Pvt Ltd

Synopsis

• Formation of the Indian Sealing Association in India to offer and improve the quality of Gaskets, Packings, Seals in

the Industry.

• First project is to ensure we do not promote, offer Asbestos contaminated products in our export market and in our

Local domestic market.

• Registration of the Association to be done at the next meeting after inviting all stakeholders and the entire Industry

first.

• Charges for the association membership currently fixed at INR 1,00,000 (or $1540) P.A.

• Each member will designate point of contact in their companies for coordination.

• Each member will get their manufacturing plant and supply chain audited by SGS or Approved Labs for Asbestos

Free Manufacturing Plant Certification

• Each member will promote their certification using the Asbestos FREE on their product packaging.

• A Website Will be launched (www.indiansealing.com) which will have all the members, their certification copies

and their product approval.

• The Association funds will be used to promote Safe Sealing, Installation Techniques, Asbestos Awareness campaign

and help educate the Maintenance Industry.

• Membership Charges for the Association is reduced for participation via technical articles.

• We study the techniques and recommendation from both ESA and FSA to ensure regulations for Fugitive Emissions.

• Invite all manufacturers in the Industry.

• Next Meeting to be held in June 2017.

Detailed Discussion: (After Presentation of DP & SVB)

SVB, NT: UK & USA allows CAF for Special Applications however ESA is trying to lobby against the Government to ban

or ensure stringent controls against all materials imported against the HS Code.

SVB: ESA divides their Membership into two levels, One is for Companies who have Manufacturing facilities in Europe

or a Head Office in Europe. Associate Members are for companies which are non-manufacturing in Europe but are

relevant to the Industry and can offer technical service. There is a third category for Labs, Institutions and Consultants.

SVB: Membership in ESA can be rejected or not renewed if there is no activate participation from the company. ESA

expects memberships to contribute via technical seminars, presentations, writing papers, and coordinating projects.

SVB: Challenge for the ESA is to harmonize the HS Codes for Gaskets and Gland Packings. Moving away from the

shadow of Asbestos and to stop labeling products as “nonAsbestos” as usage of Asbestos is irrelevant. Due to the large

amount of alternatives available under nonAsbestos, it is a difficult task to segregate them.

SVB: Introduced the Friction Gasket Project the Flange Gasket division is currently working on which deals with Friction

Factors that affect the functioning of the Gasket. A new standard will be developed for EN based on this project.

DP: The Gland Packing Division of the ESA is working on showcasing power savings between Gland Packings and

Mechanical Seals.

RR: How Many labs are active who can test for Asbestos Free?

GM: As an NABL Approved Lab they follow the PLM Method for testing, however this is an limitation 0.1% is the

acceptance criteria.

SR: Spectro Labs is also another NABL approved Lab that should be invited for the ISA.

SR: Educating the customer on the importance of the Visual Logo and its certification qualifications. Should these

stringent regulations be enforced on the Cutter? Do we allow any limits for Asbestos Free percentages?

SB: Even though we manufacture nonAsbestos Gaskets it is possible that the cutter’s tool or his infrastructure

contaminates the product. Even the stockyard and warehouse needs to be an Asbestos Free zone.

NT: Cross Contamination will occur if you allow loopholes in the system. The entire supply chain needs to be Asbestos

Free, the dealer, the cutter, the manufacturer to ensure the customer gets a 100% Asbestos Free product.

NT: ISA should have all the CEOs of the members commit in writing their pledge to remove Asbestos from their

products and their supply chain. It will be a difficult decision but it is a correct way forward.

DP: ISA objectives will be to promote the association as an important group that teaches customers on the importance

of Sealings and provides technical education. ISA is not a marketing tool for Asbestos Free or for products.

PD: What happens after the Asbestos Free movement? Is the association only participating in that regard?

DP: The Association then lobbies for educating on following International Standards on Fire Safety, Drinking Water,

Food and Pharma, Fugitive Emissions in Refineries and Chemical Plants etc. The goal is to improve the quality of Sealing

in India to avoid Industrial accidents.

RR: Propose that every export consignment is checked for Asbestos.

DP: The Indian Sealing Association website will have all the manufacturers and their products listed which are Asbestos

Free. This means for any export client looking for a nonAsbestos product the decision is extremely easy. Every lot

doesn’t have to be checked. Currently we are expecting the Customer to do the evaluation at his end and be careful,

this entire work is taken away from the customer and handled by the Association. The customer only has to decide if he

wants a certified 100% Asbestos Free product or not.

DP: Should there be multiple versions of the visual logo? Like for a warehouse, or for a cutter, or for a manufacturer.

NT: Multiple versions so early in the stage will create confusion. It is best to stick to a single identifier first and once

there is focus and awareness move to different versions if required.

DP: Should we allow non-Manufacturing companies also access?

SS, RR: We do not have a currently any members and should not distinguish between International Manufacturers and

Local Manufacturers.

SR: We should not distinguish between Asbestos and Asbestos Free manufacturers. This is an Indian Sealing Association

and hence even the Asbestos Manufacturers will and must be invited.

RR: Membership to the Association will though have a compulsory removal of Asbestos from your supply chain and

manufacturing facility.

NT: A Questionnaire should be made on their Asbestos usage before membership.

BL: SGS does an audit every year of our facility anyways for approx INR 1,00,000/-. The take dust samples from even

inside the duct line of their Manufacturing Plant.

DP: SGS conducts an audit annually of each member manufacturing unit and the result of that audit ensures you can

use the Asbestos Free logo on the products.

BL: Ideally the government should be doing this regulation but we as manufacturers are enforcing it.

SR: Data for Asbestos Diseases and Litigation etc needs to be collected and shared.

SS: Case Studies of Asbestos contamination found in product at the consumer end needs to be highlighted.

BL: Approach the Pollution Control Boards and educate them about ISA and even invite them to join the association

NT: Do not try to reinvent the wheel and just follow the steps Europe and the rest of the world did to remove Asbestos

from their country. It starts with awareness and education.

BL: A small presentation on Asbestos Awareness and alternatives across the Industry must be made. How to select a

suitable a nonAsbestos alternative guidelines will have to be made by each Division for their product.

SVB: The Indian Sealing Association has to work together. Where it is not possible to bring about change as one

company, the Indian Sealing Association can help bring change in these scenarios.

SR: Budgets and Membership fees to be decided. The membership fee needs to be enough for us to be able to share

our information and knowledge across the country. The Fee for 1,00,000/- was decided unanimously by the committee.

DP: Budget Planning will be done by me and be ready by the June meeting.