Subject: NEGOTIATIONS ON HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS TRADE
"In search of an agreement that will demonstrate
coexistence
of economic development and a healthy environment"
GENEVA/NAIROBI, 26 May 1997 - Government officials
are meeting in Geneva this week for a third round of
negotiations on a legally binding agreement that will make the
world safer from hazardous chemicals and pesticides. The
meeting is jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The future agreement will enable Governments to
prevent chemicals that they cannot safely manage from
entering the country while helping them to improve chemicals
management at the national level. This should lead to better
global control over those industrial and agricultural chemicals
that are dangerous to human health or the environment.
With worldwide sales of over $1 trillion annually, the
chemicals industry is a vital part of the global economy. "If
properly designed and implemented, this new agreement will
demonstrate that economic development can coexist with a
healthy environment," says Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive
Director of UNEP. "Most importantly, it will give us the
safety net we need to prevent the kinds of tragic accidents and
mistakes we have seen in the past from ever occurring again."
According to FAO, Many small farmers and their
families in developing countries face a considerable risk of
acute pesticide poisoning. They cannot safely handle highly
hazardous pesticides due to socio-economic and climatic
conditions. In addition, some pesticides designed for
temperate zones may cause severe health or environmental
problems when used in the tropics.
"Chemicals and pesticides that are most damaging to
human health and the environment should disappear from
agricultural systems and should be replaced by more benign
pesticides that are applied within the context of Integrated Pest
Management," says Abdoulaye Sawadogo, FAO Assistant
Director-General.
Public awareness of chemicals has grown with the
dramatic increase in chemicals production and trade since the
1960s. Many chemicals and pesticides are harmful to humans,
animals, and ecosystems. They can be highly hazardous,
cause cancer or birth defects, or enter the food chain and then
gradually accumulate in the vital organs of people before
reaching - 2 -
hazardous levels. Chemicals such as asbestos, which is still
exported around the world, are now known to be
carcinogenic.
The negotiations on a legally binding agreement have
their roots in earlier efforts by FAO and UNEP to promote
chemical safety. They include the 1985 International Code of
Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides and the
1987 London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on
Chemicals in International Trade. These two voluntary
systems promote the sharing of information among
Governments and encourage them to shift towards less
hazardous chemicals.
However, as some pesticides and other chemicals that
are banned or severely restricted in certain developed countries
are still widely used elsewhere, particularly in developing
countries, the governing bodies of FAO and UNEP introduced
the voluntary Prior Informed Consent Procedure in 1989.
Prior Informed Consent, or PIC, is the principle that
exports of dangerous substances should not proceed unless
agreed by the importing country. It allows importers to learn
more about the characteristics of hazardous chemicals so that
they can decide whether to accept future imports of these
chemicals. Exporting countries are then notified which
products the importing countries no longer want to receive,
and they work with their chemicals industries to ensure that
illegal imports do not occur.
Although the voluntary PIC procedure has been a
success, Governments now see a need for member countries
to adopt mandatory controls on trade in hazardous chemicals
and pesticides.
The first two rounds of talks, held in March and
September of last year, were marked by broad agreement on
most fundamentals. Delegates are focusing now on the
detailed procedures and the particular chemicals to be included
under the agreement. The current
meeting has been completely financed by the Government of
Switzerland.
As of May 1997, over 150 countries are participating
in the voluntary PIC procedure.
Note to journalists: The meeting will be held in the Geneva
International Conference Center. For further information,
please contact Michael Williams of UNEP in Geneva at 022-
979-9242, Natel 079-409-1528, fax 022-797-3464, or e-mail
mwilliams@unep.ch, or Erwin Northoff of FAO in Rome at
0039-6-5225 3105, fax 0039-6-5225 4974, or e-mail
Erwin.Northoff@FAO.Org.
Official documents and other information can be found on the
Internet at http://irptc.unep.ch/pic/.mic/Biology/J_Ecol/JEmenu.htm
UNEP News Release 1997/18
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