NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW AGREEMENT ON HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES TO BEGIN 11 MARCH IN BRUSSELS
Press Release
HE/930
NEGOTIATIONS FOR NEW AGREEMENT ON HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES TO BEGIN 11 MARCH IN BRUSSELS
19960308 BRUSSELS, 8 March (UNEP) -- Negotiations begin here Monday, 11 March on a legally binding agreement that will control the international trade of hazardous chemicals and pesticides. The Government of Belgium will host the negotiations and representatives of some 150 governments are expected to attend.Initial efforts by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to promote chemical safety were voluntary, based on 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 the FAO and UNEP introduced the voluntary "Prior Informed Consent" (PIC) procedure in 1989.
The PIC procedure helps importing countries learn more about the characteristics of the hazardous chemicals that may be shipped to them and they can initiate an internal decision-making process for future imports of those chemicals. Exporting countries are then notified which products the importing countries no longer want to receive and can take measures to ensure that illegal exports do not occur. As of 1 March, 145 countries are participating in the voluntary PIC procedure, which is implemented by a FAO/UNEP Joint Programme.
Although the 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 negotiations in Brussels on a legally binding instrument will complement steps already taken by a few countries to pass laws requiring their own export industries to comply with the decisions of importing countries. The main purpose of the future agreement is to help countries move towards more effective chemicals management and help phase out the use of the most hazardous compounds. Training and capacity-building will therefore be an important part of the negotiations.
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"Chemicals can greatly improve our quality of life", said Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, "but they also pose serious risks. Governments are meeting in Brussels because they recognize the need to ensure that industrial chemicals and pesticides are managed responsibly at the global level."
According to the 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.
"Excessive use and misuse of pesticides continues to endanger human health and the environment, especially where such products are used on high-value crops such as vegetables and cotton", FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said. "Therefore, much remains to be done to reduce access to hazardous pesticides through the control of international trade. This should be combined with a better regulation of national trade in pesticides and the application of ecologically based Integrated Pest Management."
For more information, please contact: Michael Williams, UNEP (Geneva), tel. (41-22) 979 9242/44, fax (41-22) 797 3464, e-mail Mwilliams@unep.ch.
Please note that official documents for the meeting are available on the Internet at http://irptc.unep.ch/pic/.
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