Subject: HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS TALKS CONCLUDED WITH Significant Success
SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS
Nairobi, 6 June 1997 - In Geneva, last week, the third
round of talks on international trade in hazardous chemicals
and pesticides
ended with a revised draft text of a future international
treaty.
"We have developed extensive new text for a treaty
that will protect
human health and the environment while at the same time
ensuring the
continued free trade in chemicals,รพ said Chairperson Maria
Celina de
Azevedo Rodrigues. "Delegates must come back next time
prepared to
finalize the text so that governments can adopt the agreement
at our
diplomatic conference late this year."
Delegates spent a good deal of time elaborating the
respective
obligations of importing and exporting countries. A key
issue was
identifying the types of chemicals to include in the
agreement. Other items
were the criteria for selecting specific chemicals; the rules
for notifying
exporters of banned or severely restricted chemicals and
hazardous pesticide
formulations; the designation of competent national
authorities; the use of
risk assessments; classification, packaging and labelling
requirements;
technical assistance; and financial resources.
Over 300 delegates from 102 countries attended the
session. The
fourth round of negotiations are tentatively scheduled for
20-24 October in
Brussels; the diplomatic conference is expected to take place
in Rotterdam
in December. The negotiations are jointly organized by the
Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the
United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The agreement will build on the voluntary Prior
Informed Consent
(PIC) procedure introduced by UNEP and FAO in 1989. 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 countries to adopt a mandatory
procedure
to protect against the risks of hazardous chemicals and
pesticides.
Note to journalists: 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/.u/science/June97/Strain195.hrs.html
UNEP Information Note 1997/18
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