Responsible Care is a voluntary initiative of the global chemical industry focused on improving performance, communication and accountability. Responsible Care commits companies, through their national chemical associations, to work together to continuously improve the health, safety and environmental performance of their products and processes. It is a major contribution by the industry in achieving sustainable development. Mechanisms to ensure an effective and robust Member Support network are fundamental to the further development and future success of Responsible Care. The ICCA's Responsible Care Leadership Group (RCLG) provides support for the 53 associations that have signed up to the initiative, which is particularly important for smaller organizations that may be less well-resourced. This support includes provision of a global networking process that enables best practice sharing, mutual support and experience sharing between participating countries. The support system encourages associations in their implementation of Responsible Care, who in turn encourage and support their member companies. For Responsible Care to be successful, industry must maximize the number of companies implementing the initiative. So, for example, while the initiative has been taken up by all Europe's leading chemical producers which account for roughly 80% of sales, they represent only around 20% of the actual number of companies. Many small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) also participate in Responsible Care, but a large number do not. The RCLG, therefore, is focusing efforts on helping associations to encourage and help more SMEs to sign on to Responsible Care by offering support for them to do so, and by making the business value clear. Greater company participation further strengthens the initiative, and thus industry's commitment to social responsibility.