A-21: TOXIC CHEMICALS - MANAGEMENT
Distr.
GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II)
13 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 19
ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF TOXIC CHEMICALS, INCLUDING
PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN TOXIC AND
DANGEROUS PRODUCTS
INTRODUCTION
19.1. A substantial use of chemicals is essential to meet the social and
economic goals of the world community and today's best practice
demonstrates that they can be used widely in a cost-effective manner and
with a high degree of safety. However, a great deal remains to be done to
ensure the environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals, within the
principles of sustainable development and improved quality of life for
humankind. Two of the major problems, particularly in developing
countries, are (a) lack of sufficient scientific information for the
assessment of risks entailed by the use of a great number of chemicals, and
(b) lack of resources for assessment of chemicals for which data are at
hand.
19.2. Gross chemical contamination, with grave damage to human health,
genetic structures and reproductive outcomes, and the environment, has in
recent times been continuing within some of the world's most important
industrial areas. Restoration will require major investment and
development of new techniques. The long-range effects of pollution,
extending even to the fundamental chemical and physical processes of the
Earth's atmosphere and climate, are becoming understood only recently and
the importance of those effects is becoming recognized only recently as
well.
19.3. A considerable number of international bodies are involved in work
on chemical safety. In many countries work programmes for the promotion of
chemical safety are in place. Such work has international implications, as
chemical risks do not respect national boundaries. However, a significant
strengthening of both national and international efforts is needed to
achieve an environmentally sound management of chemicals.
19.4. Six programme areas are proposed:
(a) Expanding and accelerating international assessment of chemical
risks;
(b) Harmonization of classification and labelling of chemicals;
(c) Information exchange on toxic chemicals and chemical risks;
(d) Establishment of risk reduction programmes;
(e) Strengthening of national capabilities and capacities for
management of chemicals;
(f) Prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and
dangerous products.
In addition, the short final subsection G deals with the enhancement of
cooperation related to several programme areas.
19.5. The six programme areas are together dependent for their successful
implementation on intensive international work and improved coordination of
current international activities, as well as on the identification and
application of technical, scientific, educational and financial means, in
particular for developing countries. To varying degrees, the programme
areas involve hazard assessment (based on the intrinsic properties of
chemicals), risk assessment (including assessment of exposure), risk
acceptability and risk management.
19.6. Collaboration on chemical safety between the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the International Programme on
Chemical Safety (IPCS) should be the nucleus for international cooperation
on environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals. All efforts should
be made to strengthen this programme. Cooperation with other programmes,
such as those of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) and the European Communities (EC) and other regional and
governmental chemical programmes, should be promoted.
19.7. Increased coordination of United Nations bodies and other
international organizations involved in chemicals assessment and management
should be further promoted. Within the framework of IPCS, an
intergovernmental meeting, convened by the Executive Director of UNEP, was
held in London in December 1991 to further explore this matter (see paras.
19.75 and 19.76).
19.8. The broadest possible awareness of chemical risks is a prerequisite
for achieving chemical safety. The principle of the right of the community
and of workers to know those risks should be recognized. However, the
right to know the identity of hazardous ingredients should be balanced with
industry's right to protect confidential business information. (Industry,
as referred to in this chapter, shall be taken to include large industrial
enterprises and transnational corporations as well as domestic industries.)
The industry initiative on responsible care and product stewardship should
be developed and promoted. Industry should apply adequate standards of
operation in all countries in order not to damage human health and the
environment.
19.9. There is international concern that part of the international
movement of toxic and dangerous products is being carried out in
contravention of existing national legislation and international
instruments, to the detriment of the environment and public health of all
countries, particularly developing countries.
19.10. In resolution 44/226 of 22 December 1989, the General Assembly
requested each regional commission, within existing resources, to
contribute to the prevention of the illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous
products and wastes by monitoring and making regional assessments of that
illegal traffic and its environmental and health implications. The
Assembly also requested the regional commissions to interact among
themselves and to cooperate with the United Nations Environment Programme,
with a view to maintaining efficient and coordinated monitoring and
assessment of the illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products and
wastes.
PROGRAMME AREAS
A. Expanding and accelerating international
assessment of chemical risks
19.11. Assessing the risks to human health and the environment hazards
that a chemical may cause is a prerequisite to planning for its safe and
beneficial use. Among the approximately 100,000 chemical substances in
commerce and the thousands of substances of natural origin with which human
beings come into contact, many appear as pollutants and contaminants in
food, commercial products and the various environmental media.
Fortunately, exposure to most chemicals (some 1,500 cover over 95 per cent
of total world production) is rather limited, as most are used in very
small amounts. However, a serious problem is that even for a great number
of chemicals characterized by high-volume production, crucial data for risk
assessment are often lacking. Within the framework of the OECD chemicals
programme such data are now being generated for a number of chemicals.
19.12. Risk assessment is resource-intensive. It could be made
cost-effective by strengthening international cooperation and better
coordination, thereby making the best use of available resources and
avoiding unnecessary duplication of effort. However, each nation should
have a critical mass of technical staff with experience in toxicity testing
and exposure analysis, which are two important components of risk
assessment.
Objectives
19.13. The objectives of this programme area are:
(a) To strengthen international risk assessment. Several hundred
priority chemicals or groups of chemicals, including major pollutants and
contaminants of global significance, should be assessed by the year 2000,
using current selection and assessment criteria;
(b) To produce guidelines for acceptable exposure for a greater
number of toxic chemicals, based on peer review and scientific consensus
distinguishing between health- or environment-based exposure limits and
those relating to socio-economic factors.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
19.14. Governments, through the cooperation of relevant international
organizations and industry, where appropriate, should:
(a) Strengthen and expand programmes on chemical risk assessment
within the United Nations system IPCS (UNEP, ILO, WHO) and the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with other
organizations, including the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), based on an agreed approach to data-quality assurance,
application of assessment criteria, peer review and linkages to risk
management activities, taking into account the precautionary approach;
(b) Promote mechanisms to increase collaboration among Governments,
industry, academia and relevant non-governmental organizations involved in
the various aspects of risk assessment of chemicals and related processes,
in particular the promoting and coordinating of research activities to
improve understanding of the mechanisms of action of toxic chemicals;
(c) Encourage the development of procedures for the exchange by
countries of their assessment reports on chemicals with other countries for
use in national chemical assessment programmes.
(b) Data and information
19.15. Governments, through the cooperation of relevant international
organizations and industry, where appropriate, should:
(a) Give high priority to hazard assessment of chemicals, that is,
of their intrinsic properties as the appropriate basis for risk assessment;
(b) Generate data necessary for assessment, building, inter alia, on
programmes of IPCS (UNEP, WHO, ILO), FAO, OECD and EC and on established
programmes other regions and Governments. Industry should participate
actively.
19.16. Industry should provide data for substances produced that are
needed specifically for the assessment of potential risks to human health
and the environment. Such data should be made available to relevant
national competent authorities and international bodies and other
interested parties involved in hazard and risk assessment, and to the
greatest possible extent to the public also, taking into account legitimate
claims of confidentiality.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
19.17. Governments, through the cooperation of relevant international
organizations and industry, where appropriate, should:
(a) Develop criteria for priority-setting for chemicals of global
concern with respect to assessment;
(b) Review strategies for exposure assessment and environmental
monitoring to allow for the best use of available resources, to ensure
compatibility of data and to encourage coherent national and international
strategies for that assessment.
Means of implementation
(a) Financial and cost evaluation
19.18. Most of the data and methods for chemical risk assessment are
generated in the developed countries and an expansion and acceleration of
the assessment work will call for a considerable increase in research and
safety testing by industry and research institutions. The cost projections
address the needs to strengthen the capacities of relevant United Nations
bodies and are based on current experience in IPCS. It should be noted
that there are considerable costs, often not possible to quantify, that are
not included. These comprise costs to industry and Governments of
generating the safety data underlying the assessments and costs to
Governments of providing background documents and draft assessment
statements to IPCS, the International Register of Potentially Toxic
Chemicals (IRPTC) and OECD. They also include the cost of accelerated work
in non-United Nations bodies such as OECD and EC.
19.19. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $30 million from the international community on grant or concessional
terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have
not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms,
including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the
specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
19.20. Major research efforts should be launched in order to improve
methods for assessment of chemicals as work towards a common framework for
risk assessment and to improve procedures for using toxicological and
epidemiological data to predict the effects of chemicals on human health
and the environment, so as to enable decision makers to adopt adequate
policies and measures to reduce risks posed by chemicals.
19.21. Activities include:
(a) Strengthening research on safe/safer alternatives to toxic
chemicals that pose an unreasonable and otherwise unmanageable risk to the
environment or human health and to those that are toxic, persistent and
bio-accumulative and that cannot be adequately controlled;
(b) Promotion of research on, and validation of, methods constituting
a replacement for those using test animals (thus reducing the use of
animals for testing purposes);
(c) Promotion of relevant epidemiological studies with a view to
establishing a cause-and-effect relationship between exposure to chemicals
and the occurrence of certain diseases;
(d) Promotion of ecotoxicological studies with the aim of assessing
the risks of chemicals to the environment.
(c) Human resource development
19.22. International organizations, with the participation of Governments
and non-governmental organizations, should launch training and education
projects involving women and children, who are at greatest risk, in order
to enable countries, and particularly developing countries, to make maximum
national use of international assessments of chemical risks.
(d) Capacity-building
19.23. International organizations, building on past, present and future
assessment work, should support countries, particularly developing
countries, in developing and strengthening risk assessment capabilities at
national and regional levels to minimize, and as far as possible control
and prevent, risk in the manufacturing and use of toxic and hazardous
chemicals. Technical cooperation and financial support or other
contributions should be given to activities aimed at expanding and
accelerating the national and international assessment and control of
chemical risks to enable the best choice of chemicals.
B. Harmonization of classification and labelling of chemicals
Basis for action
19.24. Adequate labelling of chemicals and the dissemination of safety
data sheets such as ICSCs (International Chemical Safety Cards) and
similarly written materials, based on assessed hazards to health and
environment, are the simplest and most efficient way of indicating how to
handle and use chemicals safely.
19.25. For the safe transport of dangerous goods, including chemicals, a
comprehensive scheme elaborated within the United Nations system is in
current use. This scheme mainly takes into account the acute hazards of
chemicals.
19.26. Globally harmonized hazard classification and labelling systems are
not yet available to promote the safe use of chemicals, inter alia, at the
workplace or in the home. Classification of chemicals can be made for
different purposes and is a particularly important tool in establishing
labelling systems. There is a need to develop harmonized hazard
classification and labelling systems, building on ongoing work.
Objectives
19.27. A globally harmonized hazard classification and compatible
labelling system, including material safety data sheets and easily
understandable symbols, should be available, if feasible, by the year 2000.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
19.28. Governments, through the cooperation of relevant international
organizations and industry, where appropriate, should launch a project with
a view to establishing and elaborating a harmonized classification and
compatible labelling system for chemicals for use in all United Nations
official languages including adequate pictograms. Such a labelling system
should not lead to the imposition of unjustified trade barriers. The new
system should draw on current systems to the greatest extent possible; it
should be developed in steps and should address the subject of
compatibility with labels of various applications.
(b) Data and information
19.29. International bodies including, inter alia, IPCS (UNEP, ILO, WHO),
FAO, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations
Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and OECD, in
cooperation with regional and national authorities having existing
classification and labelling and other information-dissemination systems,
should establish a coordinating group to:
(a) Evaluate and, if appropriate, undertake studies of existing hazard
classification and information systems to establish general principles for
a globally harmonized system;
(b) Develop and implement a work plan for the establishment of a
globally harmonized hazard classification system. The plan should include
a description of the tasks to be completed, deadline for completion and
assignment of tasks to the participants in the coordinating group;
(c) Elaborate a harmonized hazard classification system;
(d) Draft proposals for standardization of hazard communication
terminology and symbols in order to enhance risk management of chemicals
and facilitate both international trade and translation of information into
the end-user's language;
(e) Elaborate a harmonized labelling system.
Means of implementation
(a) Financial and cost evaluation
19.30. The Conference secretariat has included the technical assistance
costs related to this programme in estimates provided in programme area E.
They estimate the average total annual cost (1993-2000) for strengthening
international organizations to be about $3 million from the international
community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and
order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by
Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and
programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Human resource development
19.31. Governments and institutions and non-governmental organizations,
with the collaboration of appropriate organizations and programmes of the
United Nations, should launch training courses and information campaigns to
facilitate the understanding and use of a new harmonized classification and
compatible labelling system for chemicals.
(c) Capacity-building
19.32. In strengthening national capacities for management of chemicals,
including development and implementation of, and adaptation to, new
classification and labelling systems, the creation of trade barriers should
be avoided and the limited capacities and resources of a large number of
countries, particularly developing countries, for implementing such
systems, should be taken into full account.
C. Information exchange on toxic chemicals and chemical risks
Basis for action
19.33. The following activities, related to information exchange on the
benefits as well as the risks associated with the use of chemicals, are
aimed at enhancing the sound management of toxic chemicals through the
exchange of scientific, technical, economic and legal information.
19.34. The London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on Chemicals
in International Trade are a set of guidelines adopted by Governments with
a view to increasing chemical safety through the exchange of information on
chemicals. Special provisions have been included in the guidelines with
regard to the exchange of information on banned and severely restricted
chemicals.
19.35. The export to developing countries of chemicals that have been
banned in producing countries or whose use has been severely restricted in
some industrialized countries has been the subject of concern, as some
importing countries lack the ability to ensure safe use, owing to
inadequate infrastructure for controlling the importation, distribution,
storage, formulation and disposal of chemicals.
19.36. In order to address this issue, provisions for Prior Informed
Consent (PIC) procedures were introduced in 1989 in the London Guidelines
(UNEP) and in the International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use
of Pesticides (FAO). In addition a joint FAO/UNEP programme has been
launched for the operation of the PIC procedures for chemicals, including
the selection of chemicals to be included in the PIC procedure and
preparation of PIC decision guidance documents. The ILO chemicals
convention calls for communication between exporting and importing
countries when hazardous chemicals have been prohibited for reasons of
safety and health at work. Within the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT) framework, negotiations have been pursued with a view to
creating a binding instrument on products banned or severely restricted in
the domestic market. Further, the GATT Council has agreed, as stated in
its decision contained in C/M/251, to extend the mandate of the working
group for a period of three months, to begin from the date of the group's
next meeting, and has authorized the Chairman to hold consultations on
timing with respect to convening this meeting.
19.37. Notwithstanding the importance of the PIC procedure, information
exchange on all chemicals is necessary.
Objectives
19.38. The objectives of this programme area are:
(a) To promote intensified exchange of information on chemical safety,
use and emissions among all involved parties;
(b) To achieve by the year 2000, as feasible, full participation in
and implementation of the PIC procedure, including possible mandatory
applications through legally binding instruments contained in the Amended
London Guidelines and in the FAO International Code of Conduct, taking into
account the experience gained within the PIC procedure.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
19.39. Governments and relevant international organizations with the
cooperation of industry should:
(a) Strengthen national institutions responsible for information
exchange on toxic chemicals and promote the creation of national centres
where these centres do not exist;
(b) Strengthen international institutions and networks, such as IRPTC,
responsible for information exchange on toxic chemicals;
(c) Establish technical cooperation with, and provide information to,
other countries, especially those with shortages of technical expertise,
including training in the interpretation of relevant technical data, such
as Environmental Health Criteria Documents, Health and Safety Guides and
International Chemical Safety Cards (published by IPCS); monographs on the
Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks of Chemicals to Humans (published by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)); and decision guidance
documents (provided through the FAO/UNEP joint programme on PIC), as well
as those submitted by industry and other sources;
(d) Implement the PIC procedures as soon as possible and, in the light
of experience gained, invite relevant international organizations, such as
UNEP, GATT, FAO, WHO and others, in their respective area of competence to
consider working expeditiously towards the conclusion of legally binding
instruments.
(b) Data and information
19.40. Governments and relevant international organizations with the
cooperation of industry should:
(a) Assist in the creation of national chemical information systems in
developing countries and improve access to existing international systems;
(b) Improve databases and information systems on toxic chemicals, such
as emission inventory programmes, through provision of training in the use
of those systems as well as software, hardware and other facilities;
(c) Provide knowledge and information on severely restricted or banned
chemicals to importing countries to enable them to judge and take decisions
on whether to import, and how to handle, those chemicals and establish
joint responsibilities in trade of chemicals between importing and
exporting countries;
(d) Provide data necessary to assess risks to human health and the
environment of possible alternatives to banned or severely restricted
chemicals.
19.41. United Nations organizations should provide, as far as possible,
all international information material on toxic chemicals in all United
Nations official languages.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
19.42. Governments and relevant international organizations with the
cooperation of industry should cooperate in establishing, strengthening and
expanding, as appropriate, the network of designated national authorities
for exchange of information on chemicals and establish a technical exchange
programme to produce a core of trained personnel within each participating
country.
Means of implementation
Financing and cost evaluation
19.43. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $10 million from the international community on grant or concessional
terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have
not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms,
including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the
specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
D. Establishment of risk reduction programmes
Basis for action
19.44. There are often alternatives to toxic chemicals currently in use.
Thus, risk reduction can sometimes be achieved by using other chemicals or
even non-chemical technologies. The classic example of risk reduction is
the substitution of harmless or less harmful substances for harmful ones.
Establishment of pollution prevention procedures and setting standards for
chemicals in each environmental medium, including food and water, and in
consumer goods, constitute another example of risk reduction. In a wider
context, risk reduction involves broad-based approaches to reducing the
risks of toxic chemicals, taking into account the entire life cycle of the
chemicals. Such approaches could encompass both regulatory and
non-regulatory measures, such as promotion of the use of cleaner products
and technologies, pollution prevention procedures and programmes, emission
inventories, product labelling, use limitations, economic incentives,
procedures for safe handling and exposure regulations, and the phasing out
or banning of chemicals that pose unreasonable and otherwise unmanageable
risks to human health and the environment and of those that are toxic,
persistent and bio-accumulative and whose use cannot be adequately
controlled.
19.45. In the agricultural area, integrated pest management, including the
use of biological control agents as alternatives to toxic pesticides, is
one approach to risk reduction.
19.46. Other areas of risk reduction encompass the prevention of chemical
accidents, prevention of poisoning by chemicals and the undertaking of
toxicovigilance and coordination of clean-up and rehabilitation of areas
damaged by toxic chemicals.
19.47. The OECD Council has decided that OECD member countries should
establish or strengthen national risk reduction programmes. The
International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) has introduced
initiatives regarding responsible care and product stewardship aimed at
reduction of chemical risks. The Awareness and Preparedness for
Emergencies at Local Level (APELL) programme of UNEP is designed to assist
decision makers and technical personnel in improving community awareness of
hazardous installations and in preparing response plans. ILO has published
a Code of Practice on the prevention of major industrial accidents and is
preparing an international instrument on the prevention of industrial
disasters for eventual adoption in 1993.
Objectives
19.48. The objective of the programme area is to eliminate unacceptable or
unreasonable risks and, to the extent economically feasible, to reduce
risks posed by toxic chemicals, by employing a broad-based approach
involving a wide range of risk reduction options and by taking
precautionary measures derived from a broad-based life-cycle analysis.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
19.49. Governments, through the cooperation of relevant international
organizations and industry, where appropriate, should:
(a) Consider adopting policies based on accepted producer liability
principles, where appropriate, as well as precautionary, anticipatory and
life-cycle approaches to chemical management, covering manufacturing,
trade, transport, use and disposal;
(b) Undertake concerted activities to reduce risks for toxic
chemicals, taking into account the entire life cycle of the chemicals.
These activities could encompass both regulatory and non-regulatory
measures, such as promotion of the use of cleaner products and
technologies; emission inventories; product labelling; use limitations;
economic incentives; and the phasing out or banning of toxic chemicals that
pose an unreasonable and otherwise unmanageable risk to the environment or
human health and those that are toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative and
whose use cannot be adequately controlled;
(c) Adopt policies and regulatory and non-regulatory measures to
identify, and minimize exposure to, toxic chemicals by replacing them with
less toxic substitutes and ultimately phasing out the chemicals that pose
unreasonable and otherwise unmanageable risk to human health and the
environment and those that are toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative and
whose use cannot be adequately controlled;
(d) Increase efforts to identify national needs for standard setting
and implementation in the context of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius in
order to minimize adverse effects of chemicals in food;
(e) Develop national policies and adopt the necessary regulatory
framework for prevention of accidents, preparedness and response, inter
alia, through land-use planning, permit systems and reporting requirements
on accidents, and work with the OECD/UNEP international directory of
regional response centres and the APELL programme;
(f) Promote establishment and strengthening, as appropriate, of
national poison control centres to ensure prompt and adequate diagnosis and
treatment of poisonings;
(g) Reduce overdependence on the use of agricultural chemicals through
alternative farming practices, integrated pest management and other
appropriate means;
(h) Require manufacturers, importers and others handling toxic
chemicals to develop, with the cooperation of producers of such chemicals,
where applicable, emergency response procedures and preparation of on-site
and off-site emergency response plans;
(i) Identify, assess, reduce and minimize, or eliminate as far as
feasible by environmentally sound disposal practices, risks from storage of
outdated chemicals.
19.50. Industry should be encouraged to:
(a) Develop an internationally agreed upon code of principles for the
management of trade in chemicals, recognizing in particular the
responsibility for making available information on potential risks and
environmentally sound disposal practices if those chemicals become wastes,
in cooperation with Governments and relevant international organizations
and appropriate agencies of the United Nations system;
(b) Develop application of a "responsible care" approach by producers
and manufacturers towards chemical products, taking into account the total
life cycle of such products;
(c) Adopt, on a voluntary basis, community right-to-know programmes
based on international guidelines, including sharing of information on
causes of accidental and potential releases and means of preventing them,
and reporting on annual routine emissions of toxic chemicals to the
environment in the absence of host country requirements.
(b) Data and information
19.51. Governments, through the cooperation of relevant international
organizations and industry, where appropriate, should:
(a) Promote exchange of information on national and regional
activities to reduce the risks of toxic chemicals;
(b) Cooperate in the development of communication guidelines on
chemical risks at the national level to promote information exchange with
the public and the understanding of risks.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
19.52. Governments, through the cooperation of relevant international
organizations and industry, where appropriate, should:
(a) Collaborate to develop common criteria to determine which
chemicals are suitable candidates for concerted risk reduction activities;
(b) Coordinate concerted risk reduction activities;
(c) Develop guidelines and policies for the disclosure by
manufacturers, importers and others using toxic chemicals of toxicity
information declaring risks and emergency response arrangements;
(d) Encourage large industrial enterprises including transnational
corporations and other enterprises wherever they operate to introduce
policies demonstrating the commitment, with reference to the
environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals, to adopt standards of
operation equivalent to or not less stringent than those existing in the
country of origin;
(e) Encourage and support the development and adoption by small- and
medium-sized industries of relevant procedures for risk reduction in their
activities;
(f) Develop regulatory and non-regulatory measures and procedures
aimed at preventing the export of chemicals that are banned, severely
restricted, withdrawn or not approved for health or environmental reasons,
except when such export has received prior written consent from the
importing country or is otherwise in accordance with the PIC procedure;
(g) Encourage national and regional work to harmonize evaluation of
pesticides;
(h) Promote and develop mechanisms for the safe production, management
and use of dangerous materials, formulating programmes to substitute for
them safer alternatives, where appropriate;
(i) Formalize networks of emergency response centres;
(j) Encourage industry, with the help of multilateral cooperation, to
phase out as appropriate, and dispose of, any banned chemicals that are
still in stock or in use in an environmentally sound manner, including safe
reuse, where approved and appropriate.
Means of implementation
(a) Financial and cost evaluation
19.53. The Conference secretariat has included most costs related to this
programme in estimates provided for programme areas A and E. They estimate
other requirements for training and strengthening the emergency and poison
control centres to be about $4 million annually from the international
community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and
order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by
Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and
programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
19.54. Governments, in cooperation with relevant international
organizations and programmes, should:
(a) Promote technology that would minimize release of, and exposure
to, toxic chemicals in all countries;
(b) Carry out national reviews, as appropriate, of previously accepted
pesticides whose acceptance was based on criteria now recognized as
insufficient or outdated and of their possible replacement with other pest
control methods, particularly in the case of pesticides that are toxic,
persistent and/or bio-accumulative.
E. Strengthening of national capabilities and capacities
for management of chemicals
Basis for action
19.55. Many countries lack national systems to cope with chemical risks.
Most countries lack scientific means of collecting evidence of misuse and
of judging the impact of toxic chemicals on the environment, because of the
difficulties involved in the detection of many problematic chemicals and
systematically tracking their flow. Significant new uses are among the
potential hazards to human health and the environment in developing
countries. In several countries with systems in place there is an urgent
need to make those systems more efficient.
19.56. Basic elements for sound management of chemicals are: (a) adequate
legislation, (b) information gathering and dissemination, (c) capacity for
risk assessment and interpretation, (d) establishment of risk management
policy, (e) capacity for implementation and enforcement, (f) capacity for
rehabilitation of contaminated sites and poisoned persons, (g) effective
education programmes and (h) capacity to respond to emergencies.
19.57. As management of chemicals takes place within a number of sectors
related to various national ministries, experience suggests that a
coordinating mechanism is essential.
Objective
19.58. By the year 2000, national systems for environmentally sound
management of chemicals, including legislation and provisions for
implementation and enforcement, should be in place in all countries to the
extent possible.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
19.59. Governments, where appropriate and with the collaboration of
relevant intergovernmental organizations, agencies and programmes of the
United Nations system, should:
(a) Promote and support multidisciplinary approaches to chemical
safety problems;
(b) Consider the need to establish and strengthen, where appropriate,
a national coordinating mechanism to provide a liaison for all parties
involved in chemical safety activities (for example, agriculture,
environment, education, industry, labour, health, transportation, police,
civil defence, economic affairs, research institutions, and poison control
centres);
(c) Develop institutional mechanisms for the management of chemicals,
including effective means of enforcement;
(d) Establish and develop or strengthen, where appropriate, networks
of emergency response centres, including poison control centres;
(e) Develop national and local capabilities to prepare for and respond
to accidents by taking into account the UNEP APELL programme and similar
programmes on accident prevention, preparedness and response, where
appropriate, including regularly tested and updated emergency plans;
(f) Develop, in cooperation with industry, emergency response
procedures, identifying means and equipment in industries and plants
necessary to reduce impacts of accidents.
(b) Data and information
19.60. Governments should:
(a) Direct information campaigns such as programmes providing
information about chemical stockpiles, environmentally safer alternatives
and emission inventories that could also be a tool for risk reduction to
the general public to increase the awareness of problems of chemical
safety;
(b) Establish, in conjunction with IRPTC, national registers and
databases, including safety information, for chemicals;
(c) Generate field monitoring data for toxic chemicals of high
environmental importance;
(d) Cooperate with international organizations, where appropriate, to
effectively monitor and control the generation, manufacturing,
distribution, transportation and disposal activities relating to toxic
chemicals, to foster preventive and precautionary approaches and ensure
compliance with safety management rules, and provide accurate reporting of
relevant data.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
19.61. Governments, with the cooperation of international organizations,
where appropriate, should:
(a) Prepare guidelines, where not already available, with advice and
check-lists for enacting legislation in the chemical safety field;
(b) Support countries, particularly developing countries, in
developing and further strengthening national legislation and its
implementation;
(c) Consider adoption of community right-to-know or other public
information-dissemination programmes, when appropriate, as possible risk
reduction tools. Appropriate international organizations, in particular
UNEP, OECD, the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and other interested
parties, should consider the possibility of developing a guidance document
on the establishment of such programmes for use by interested Governments.
The document should build on existing work on accidents and include new
guidance on toxic emission inventories and risk communication. Such
guidance should include harmonization of requirements, definitions and data
elements to promote uniformity and allow sharing of data internationally;
(d) Build on past, present and future risk assessment work at an
international level, to support countries, particularly developing
countries, in developing and strengthening risk assessment capabilities at
national and regional levels to minimize risk in the manufacturing and use
of toxic chemicals;
(e) Promote implementation of UNEP's APELL programme and, in
particular, use of an OECD/UNEP international directory of emergency
response centres;
(f) Cooperate with all countries, particularly developing countries,
in the setting up of an institutional mechanism at the national level and
the development of appropriate tools for management of chemicals;
(g) Arrange information courses at all levels of production and use,
aimed at staff working on chemical safety issues;
(h) Develop mechanisms to make maximum use in countries of
internationally available information;
(i) Invite UNEP to promote principles for accident prevention,
preparedness and response for Governments, industry and the public,
building on ILO, OECD and ECE work in this area.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
19.62. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme in
developing countries to be about $600 million, including $150 million from
the international community on grant or concessional terms. These are
indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed
by Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and
programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
19.63. International organizations should:
(a) Promote the establishment and strengthening of national
laboratories to ensure the availability of adequate national control in all
countries regarding the importation, manufacture and use of chemicals;
(b) Promote translation, where feasible, of internationally prepared
documents on chemical safety into local languages and support various
levels of regional activities related to technology transfer and
information exchange.
(c) Human resource development
19.64. International organizations should:
(a) Enhance technical training for developing countries in relation to
risk management of chemicals;
(b) Promote and increase support for research activities at the local
level by providing grants and fellowships for studies at recognized
research institutions active in disciplines of importance for chemical
safety programmes.
19.65. Governments should organize, in collaboration with industry and
trade unions, training programmes in the management of chemicals, including
emergency response, targeted at all levels. In all countries basic
elements of chemical safety principles should be included in the primary
education curricula.
F. Prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and
dangerous products
19.66. There is currently no global international agreement on traffic in
toxic and dangerous products (toxic and dangerous products are those that
are banned, severely restricted, withdrawn or not approved for use or sale
by Governments in order to protect public health and the environment).
However, there is international concern that illegal international traffic
in these products is detrimental to public health and the environment,
particularly in developing countries, as acknowledged by the General
Assembly in resolutions 42/183 and 44/226. Illegal traffic refers to
traffic that is carried out in contravention of a country's laws or
relevant international legal instruments. The concern also relates to
transboundary movements of those products that are not carried out in
accordance with applicable internationally adopted guidelines and
principles. Activities under this programme area are intended to improve
detection and prevention of the traffic concerned.
19.67. Further strengthening of international and regional cooperation is
needed to prevent illegal transboundary movement of toxic and dangerous
products. Furthermore, capacity-building at the national level is needed
to improve monitoring and enforcement capabilities involving recognition of
the fact that appropriate penalties may need to be imposed under an
effective enforcement programme. Other activities envisaged in the present
chapter (for example, under paragraph 19.39 (d)) will also contribute to
achieving these objectives.
Objectives
19.68. The objectives of the programme are:
(a) To reinforce national capacities to detect and halt any illegal
attempt to introduce toxic and dangerous products into the territory of any
State, in contravention of national legislation and relevant international
legal instruments;
(b) To assist all countries, particularly developing countries, in
obtaining all appropriate information concerning illegal traffic in toxic
and dangerous products.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
19.69. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Adopt, where necessary, and implement legislation to prevent the
illegal import and export of toxic and dangerous products;
(b) Develop appropriate national enforcement programmes to monitor
compliance with such legislation, and detect and deter violations through
appropriate penalties.
(b) Data and information
19.70. Governments should develop, as appropriate, national alert systems
to assist in detecting illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products;
local communities, and others could be involved in the operation of such a
system.
19.71. Governments should cooperate in the exchange of information on
illegal transboundary movements of toxic and dangerous products and should
make such information available to appropriate United Nations bodies, such
as UNEP and the regional commissions.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
19.72. Further strengthening of international and regional cooperation is
needed to prevent illegal transboundary movement of toxic and dangerous
products.
19.73. The regional commissions, in cooperation with and relying upon
expert support and advice from UNEP and other relevant bodies of the United
Nations, should monitor, on the basis of data and information provided by
Governments, and on a continuous basis make regional assessments of, the
illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products and its environmental,
economic and health implications, in each region, drawing upon the results
and experience gained in the joint UNEP/ESCAP preliminary assessment of
illegal traffic, expected to be completed in August 1992.
19.74. Governments and international organizations, as appropriate, should
cooperate with developing countries in strengthening their institutional
and regulatory capacities in order to prevent illegal import and export of
toxic and dangerous products.
G. Enhancement of international cooperation relating to
several of the programme areas
19.75. A meeting of government-designated experts, held in London in
December 1991, made recommendations for increased coordination among United
Nations bodies and other international organizations involved in chemical
risk assessment and management. That meeting called for the taking of
appropriate measures to enhance the role of IPCS and establish an
intergovernmental forum on chemical risk assessment and management.
19.76. To further consider the recommendations of the London meeting and
initiate action on them, as appropriate, the Executive Heads of WHO, ILO
and UNEP are invited to convene an intergovernmental meeting within one
year, which could constitute the first meeting of the intergovernmental
forum.
END OF CHAPTER 19
.
===RRojas Research Unit/1996============================================
