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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