Mission
FETSA seeks to make this contribution in co-operation with many other industry associations in the European Union's administrative centre. FETSA was established under the administrative procedures of the Kingdom of Belgium in 1991 and is headquartered in Brussels. FETSA's Executive Committee is generally made up by the presidents and/or executive secretaries of the various national associations. The (statutory) working language in FETSA is English.

Also, FETSA recognises the need to grow in an expanding European Union to maintain the voice of Tank Storage being heard among EU policy and decision makers. Though Tank Storage Companies can be found throughout the EU, the number of National tank storage associations is limited. Therefore FETSA has enhanced its geographical scope from the EU to the Council of Europe offering the possibility for individual companies to become Associated Member.

Scope
Quite often the liquids handled by Tank Storage Companies are of a hazardous nature and may be corrosive, toxic, flammable or, indeed, all three. The potential hazard to both personnel, the environment and to plant and machinery must thus be carefully assessed and controlled.

Much effort and resources are spent on the continuous improvement of equipment, operating procedures, training and awareness of employees and fall-back systems.

Last, but by no means least, national and local authorities impose and monitor licensing conditions based increasingly on international regulation. Within this context, most tank storage companies have applied an integrated approach to the provision of logistical services, quality management and quality assurance. The great majority of the terminals represented by FETSA have achieved ISO 9000-series certification and are developing further, applying schemes such as CDI-T, ISO 14000-series and EMAS2.

Focus
Besides monitoring issues which may have a direct impact on the Tank Storage Business, it is equally important to keep track of regulatory developments in a variety of relevant Industry and Trade Sectors. For instance, the phasing out or replacement of a certain chemical substance for environmental or safety reasons will not only affect producers and users but also the logistic chain of which Tank Storage is a part. Because of a large and varied customer related environment FETSAto foster a multitude of cross-sector liaisons. Overall the following priority area's are applied by FETSA:

• Excise and customs policies, mainly guarantees and losses.
• Environment.
• Standards of technology.
• Seveso II implementation.
• Storage and transportation of dangerous substances.
• Safety and quality assessment.
• Energy policies.
• Strategic stocks of oil products.
• Shore / ship interface(marine and inland), port policies.
• Liabilities with respect to oil or chemicals pollution at sea (FETSA has observer status with the IOPCF since 1996).
• In 2002 FETSA applied for official non-governmental status with the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine.