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UK Spill Association Ltd and International Spill Accreditation Association merge

Having partnered to deliver the Accreditation of MCA Marine Oil Spill Response Organisations in 2018, UK Spill Association and International Spill Accreditation Association have since been working closely together in the marine, shoreline and inland environment, sharing resources to deliver accreditation services to members.

Consequently, the opportunity to merge was agreed by members of both associations and a merger agreement was signed by both boards at the end of September, enabling the merger to be completed on 30 September 2020.
The merger enables:

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  • One common set of accredited marine, shoreline and inland standards that can be updated to comply with legislation and best practice.
  • One strong trade association speaking with a united voice for the industry across UK and the Republic of Ireland, that government and regulators can access.
  • Ability to access member network to cover surges in demand for major incidents.
  • Production of best practice guidance that can be disseminated with authority.
  • Ability to work with other trade associations as the sole voice for the spill response industry.
  • Ability to represent the industry in UK, Republic of Ireland and overseas.

UK Spill Ltd has renamed as UK and Ireland Spill Association Ltd and becomes the trade association representing the interests of all corporate, accredited and individual members.
International Spill Accreditation Association Ltd has renamed as International Spill Accreditation Scheme Ltd to deliver all accreditation and training activities on behalf of the trade association.
Each organisation is independent of the other which fulfils regulator requirements that accreditation is not controlled by contractors. Each will have their own boards which meet over the next couple of weeks.
The chair of UK and Ireland Spill Association will remain Lee Barber of Oil Spill Response Ltd, and the chair of International Spill Accreditation Scheme Ltd is Stewart Ower of Compass Environmental Consultancy Ltd.
The inland accreditation schemes will be updated and merge before 31 Dec 20 and by mid 2021 ISAS will be ISO 9001 accredited.