United Nations Standard Classification

Trade statistics for the United States are compiled by the Department of Commerce, which uses the United Nations Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) (4). (Note There have been changes in the code, with the result that data after 1994 are not comparable with those of previous years.) The following list of SITC classes gives the principal products in each category ... 

United Nations Standard International Trade Classification, United Nations, New York, 1997. 

It is therefore apparent that, because of its diversity of operations and close links in many areas with other industries, there is no simple definition of the chemical industry. Instead each official body which collects and publishes statistics on manufacturing industry will have its definition as to which operations are classified as the chemical industry . It is important to bear this in mind when comparing statistical information which is derived from several sources. Perhaps the best known international definition for chemicals is that contained in Section 5 of the United Nations Standard International Trade Classification. Individual countries definitions will differ from this to varying degrees, as will the companies trade organizations—such as the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) in the U.K.—in each country. 

The United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) includes an internationally standardized guidance procedure on Transformation/Dissolution Protocol (T/DP) for metals and sparingly soluble metal compounds (United Nations, 2007), recently validated by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). To establish the acute aquatic hazard classification level of a metal-bearing substance under the GHS, data from the T/DP are compared with an acute ecotoxicity reference value (ERV) derived under conditions similar to those of the T/DP. 

Although there is a legal requirement that chemical manufacturers produce MSDSs for chemicals that they sell, there is no specific required format. However, the American National Standards Institute designed a 16-part format that was recommended by OSHA" and a similar format has been adopted by the United Nations for its Safety Data Sheets in its Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). ... 

The United Nations led a global action to identify chemical hazards, classify chemical hazards logically, and communicate hazard information. This international activity led to The Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals. The system has the acronym GHS. In the details, there are standard methods for labeling chemicals. There are also standards for Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) intended to communicate chemical properties and hazards. The United States recendy adopted this system. ... 

A competing concept of documenting medically (dermatologically) relevant descriptors, i.e., exposures and their duration and intensity, would be to classify not the individual occupation of the patient, but the type of industry in which he or she works. Examples of such classifications and some of their applications, e.g., employers liability insurance or governmental labor statistics, are listed below. A classification system provided by the United Nations (UN) for this purpose is the international standard industrial classification (ISIC) (United Nations 1990), as shown below. 

United Nations (1990) United Nations international standard industrial classification of all economic activities (ISIC -Rev. 3). Statistical Papers, Series M, No. 4/Rev. 3. United Nations, New York... 

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is currently reviewing the Final Rule for the adoption of a GHS which would ahgn the existing hazard commuiucation standard with the United Nations GHS for Classification and Labeling. 

The actual uses of the decanter can be found in almost all of manufacturing industry, in process terms, and beyond it as well for utility (mainly waste treatment) uses. It is a help to see these application sectors in context, as is shown in Table 3.1. This table gives an arrangement of the main items in the totality of human economic endeavour, as exemplified by the divisions of the UK Standard Industrial Classification. (This classification is similar to those used for various purposes by the statistical offices of the United Nations, the European Union, and the US and many other governments.)... 

Individuals are uniquely identified by a personal code derived from the citizen service number (BSN). Sectors of industry are identified using the Dutch Standaard Bedrijfsindehng (SBI2008) which is based on the activity classification of the European Union (Nomenclature statistique des activites economiques dans la Communaute Europeenne, NACE) and on the classification of the United Nations (International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, ISIC). In the present paper the first three digits allow differentiating between 262 sectors of industry. 

United Nations, 2008. International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Statistical Papers, Series M, revision 4. 

The GHS is an internationally agreed-upon system, created by the United Nations. It is designed to replace the various classification and labeling standards used in different countries by using consistent criteria for classification and labeling on a global level. 

Before GHS was established by the United Nations, there were many different regulations on hazard classification in use in different countries. Although many were at least somewhat similar in content and approach, without a common framework, the regulations governing industry represented multiple standards and classifications and labels for the same hazard in different countries. Given the extent of international trade in chemicals, and the potential impact on neighboring countries when controls are not implemented, this created many unnecessary obstacles and trade complexities. Fortunately, it was determined that a worldwide approach was necessary to streamline and harmonize the rules. 

GHS development began at the United Nations Rio Conference in 1992, when the ILO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), various governments and other stakeholders met at a United Nations conference. It supersedes the relevant European Union (which has implemented the United Nations GHS into EU law as the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regnlation) and United States standards. 

The classification of motor oils has not been completed in the ISO standard because the technical differences between motors in different parts of the world, particularly Europe and the United States, make the implementation of a single system of classification and specifications very difficult. In practice, different systems coming from national or international organizations are used. The best known is the SAE viscosity classification from the Society of Automotive Engineers, developed in the United States. 

This volume includes evaluations of the carcinogenicity of several chemical intermediates or additives to which a large number of workers are exposed in various industries. Information on the extent of occupational exposures to many of these compounds in the United States was available from the National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) conducted by the United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NOES was a nationwide observational survey conducted in a sample of 4490 establishments from 1981 to 1983. The target population was defined as employees working in establishments or job sites in the United States of America employing eight or more workers in a defined list of Standard Industrial Classifications. 

Suppliers. BCR, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), Belgium NIST, National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States NRCC, National Research Council of Canada. Classifications CRM, Certified Reference Material DORM, Dogfish Muscle Reference Materials for Trace Metals LUTS, Nondefatted Lobster Hepatopancreas Reference Material for Trace Metals SRM, Standard Reference Material TORT, Lobster Hepatopancreas Marine Reference Material for Trace Metals. 

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