| United Nations |
|
E/CN.17/1997/2/Add.18 |
Economic and Social Council
Distr. GENERAL
17 January 1997
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Fifth session
7-25 April 1997
Overall progress achieved since the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development
Report of the Secretary-General
Addendum
Environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals,
including prevention of illegal international traffic
in toxic and dangerous products*
(Chapter 19 of Agenda 21)
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
INTRODUCTION ............................................... 1 2
I. KEY OBJECTIVES ....................................... 2 2
II. SUCCESSES ............................................ 3 - 19 3
III. PROMISING CHANGES .................................... 20 - 25 8
IV. UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS ............................. 26 - 27 9
V. EMERGING PRIORITIES .................................. 28 - 30 10
(*
The report was prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as
task manager for chapter 19 of Agenda 21, in accordance with arrangements agreed
to by the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD). It is the
result of consultation and information exchange between United Nations agencies,
international and national science organizations, interested government agencies
and a range of other institutions and individuals.)
INTRODUCTION
1. This report reviews progress made in the implementation of the
objectives set out in chapter 19 of Agenda 21 (Toxic chemicals), 1/ taking
into account the decisions taken by the Commission on Sustainable
Development on this subject at its second session, in 1994. As we move
towards the twenty-first century, it is clear that a substantial use of
chemicals is essential to meet the social and economic goals of the world
community. Today's best practices demonstrate that chemicals can be used
widely in a cost-effective method, with a high degree of safety and in a
manner protective of the environment. Chemicals should be manufactured,
imported, exported, processed, transported, distributed in commerce, used
and disposed of in ways that protect human health and the environment.
Human exposure and pollution of the environment may arise at all stages in
the life-cycle, from initial production to ultimate disposal. Much still
remains to be done to ensure the prevention of harm to human health and the
environmentally sound management of chemicals. Chapter 19 of Agenda 21
noted this need and provided agreed guidelines and policies on how best to
address the issues in the years to come.
I. KEY OBJECTIVES
2. In chapter 19, Environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals,
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development designated
objectives within six programme areas for increased national and
international efforts. Some of the key objectives of chapter 19 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 to 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;
(c) To make available, if feasible, by the year 2000, a globally
harmonized hazard classification and compatible labelling system, including
material safety data sheets and easily understandable symbols;
(d) To promote intensified exchange of information on chemical
safety, use and emissions among all involved parties;
(e) To achieve by the year 2000, if feasible, full participation in
the implementation of the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure, including
possible mandatory applications through legally binding instruments
contained in the Amended London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information
on Chemicals in International Trade and in the FAO International Code of
Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides, taking into account the
experience gained within the PIC procedure;
(f) To eliminate unacceptable or unreasonable risks and, as far as
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;
(g) To put in place by the year 2000, national systems for
environmentally sound management of chemicals, including legislation and
provisions for implementation and enforcement, in all countries, to the
greatest extent possible;
(h) 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 instrument;
(i) To assist all countries, particularly developing countries, to
obtain all appropriate information concerning illegal traffic in toxic and
dangerous products.
II. SUCCESSES
3. In order to respond to requests from Governments for improved
communication and coordination among Governments, non-governmental
organizations and intergovernmental organizations and to address many of
the recommendations for a strengthened International Programme on Chemical
Safety (IPCS), called for by the Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED), two new international entities have been formed: the
Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC),
and the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS). IFCS, created
in Stockholm in April 1994, is a non-institutional mechanism for
cooperation among Governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-
governmental organizations for the promotion of chemical risk-assessment
and environmentally sound management of chemicals. With the aim of
integrating and consolidating national and international efforts to promote
chemical safety, the Forum is to provide policy guidance, develop
strategies in a coordinated and integrated manner, foster understanding of
the issues, and promote the requested policy support needed to discharge
those functions. IOMC was established in 1995 to coordinate efforts of
international and intergovernmental organizations (United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), International Labour Organization (ILO), the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World
Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO), and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)) the assessment and management of chemicals. The
scientific and technical work of IOMC is carried out through the existing
structures of the six organizations, either individually or jointly.
Together, these two mechanisms have established a framework for
coordinating and harmonizing the efforts of Governments, non-governmental
organizations, and intergovernmental organizations in meeting the
objectives of chapter 19. Although there have certainly been some
unfulfilled expectations in addressing the global chemicals agenda, these
two mechanisms are demonstrating that, by acting in close cooperation,
bodies engaged in chemical safety work can be more productive and attain
higher quality results from a given level of effort and resources.
4. Work is well under way to develop a coordinated, step-wise process for
the international assessment of existing chemicals and pesticides, with
maximum sharing of the burden and maximum utility of the assessments. The
IFCS target of 200 additional chemical evaluations by 1997 will be met
through the activities of IPCS and OECD. The second target, of 300 more
assessments to be produced by 2000, may, however, prove more difficult to
meet, due to a waning commitment on the part of Governments and industry to
devote resources to this work, given current budget restraints.
5. Several established international programmes continue to provide a
basis for the development of international and national standards - e.g.
food additives, food contaminants, veterinary drug residues, and pesticide
residues. To date, over 1,160 chemicals and 260 pesticides have been
evaluated. Providing environmental guidelines on specific pollutants, the
second edition of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality was
recently published, and the second edition of the WHO Air Quality
Guidelines for Europe is due in 1997.
6. In the field of methodologies for toxicity testing and risk
assessment, IPCS and OECD have developed a framework for cooperation and
mutual involvement and support. In addition to a number of ongoing
activities, in 1993 a major effort was initiated to harmonize approaches to
the assessment of risks from exposure to chemicals. Progress through all
stages of these projects will result in efficient use of resources and
consistency among assessments and would permit the broadest use of risk
assessments, performed by both national authorities and international
bodies. International standards on pesticide residues in food and food
additives continue to be set by the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius, on the
recommendation of the FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues and the
Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives. These standards are now
recognized in the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures.
7. In the Washington Declaration on the Protection of the Marine
Environment from Land-based Activities, adopted at the Intergovernmental
Conference to Adopt a Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the
Marine Environment from Land-based Activities,2/ (Washington, D.C.,
October/November 1995), Governments agreed to act to develop a global,
legally binding instrument for the reduction and/or elimination of
emissions and discharges and, where appropriate, the elimination of the
manufacture and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). At the
regional level, the executive body for the Convention on Long-range
Transboundary Air Pollution,3/ under the Economic Commission for Europe
(ECE) agreed, at its thirteenth session, in December 1995, that
negotiations for a protocol on POPs could be initiated and gave the Working
Group on Strategies the mandate to initiate such negotiations, with a
proposed deadline of end 1997. UNEP Governing Council decision 18/32,
adopted in May 1995, invited IOMC, working with IPCS and the IFCS, to
initiate an assessment process on POPs, starting with a list of 12
substances. It further invited IFCS to develop, based on the results of
the assessment process and building upon the work that had already been
done under the Convention and the conclusions of the Intergovernmental
Conference, recommendations and information needed for a possible decision
regarding appropriate international action on POPs for consideration by the
UNEP Governing Council and the World Health Assembly. A working group
involving the full participation of Governments, non-governmental
organizations and intergovernmental organizations was convened by UNEP on
behalf of IOMC. It completed the assessment process and provided the basis
for a series of IFCS recommendations which concluded, inter alia, that
international action, including a global legally binding instrument, was
needed to reduce the risks to human health and the environment arising from
the release of the 12 specified POPs. IFCS recommended that the UNEP
Governing Council invite UNEP to prepare for and convene, together with
relevant international organizations, an intergovernmental negotiating
committee, with a mandate to prepare an international legally binding
instrument for implementing international action, initially beginning with
the 12 specified POPs. IFCS further proposed that the negotiating
committee be directed to establish, at its first meeting, an expert group
charged with the development of science-based criteria and a procedure for
identifying additional POPs as candidates for future international action.
8. Within the framework of the IOMC Coordinating Group for the
Harmonization of Chemical Classification Systems, the ILO, OECD and the
Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods are the key
international bodies responsible for implementing this programme area. All
the technical work of harmonization is carried out mainly by countries with
existing systems. Other stakeholders, including organizations of industry,
workers, consumers and those concerned with protection of the environment,
are also involved. Work is on schedule towards meeting the deadlines of
the end of 1997 for harmonization of classification criteria and tests and
of 2000 for hazard communication tools (labelling and data sheets). The
elaboration of a mechanism, either binding or non-binding, to implement a
globally harmonized system at the national and international levels, will
be discussed/consolidated at the second session of IFCS in February 1997.
The high priority given by all stakeholders to this programme area is
illustrated by the strengthened intergovernmental and inter-agency
cooperation in building consensus views, and the higher level of effort
devoted to completing the necessary technical work. There is also wide
recognition that implementation of a globally harmonized system will have a
beneficial impact on human health and the environment, reduce the need for
animal testing, and facilitate international trade in chemicals.
9. Recognizing the roles of IOMC and other organizations in delivering
information to their constituencies on toxic chemicals, a coordinating
group on information exchange was formed, under the framework of IOMC, to
promote a coordinated delivery of such data to Governments and others who
need them. The group is helping to promote a delivery of information on
CD-ROM, through the Internet, and via printed material in a much more
coordinated and thorough way. In order to improve access to information on
chemicals, Japan is contributing to the establishment of a pilot programme
on a new global information network on chemicals.
10. With regard to prior informed consent (PIC), UNEP and FAO are jointly
implementing the PIC procedure. The number of countries participating in
the voluntary procedure has increased to 148, with 17 chemicals subject to
it. There will be further development and distribution of decision
guidance documents on 17 additional chemicals and transmission of decisions
from the Governments to all participating countries. Negotiations are well
under way for a PIC convention. The first two sessions of the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an International Legally
Binding Instrument for the Application of the PIC Procedure for Certain
Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade were held
(Brussels, 11-15 March 1996; Nairobi, 16-20 September 1996). Extensive
progress has been made on the instrument, with one or two additional
negotiating sessions to take place before a conference of plenipotentiaries
to be held in the Netherlands in 1997.
11. Since 1993, progress has been made to implement, in a coordinated
manner, key recommendations of chapter 19 related to emission inventories,
or what is now titled pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs).
Two major developments include the publication of a PRTR guidance document
by OECD, titled "PRTRs: a tool for environmental policy and sustainable
development", and the implementation of PRTR pilot design projects in three
countries by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research
(UNITAR), which documented the feasibility of introducing PRTRs as an
environmental management tool in industrializing and developing countries
and led to the development of a UNITAR series of guidance documents to
assist countries in implementing national PRTR design projects. In
addition, PRTR-related support services have been initiated by UNEP (an
Internet clearing-house on international and national PRTR activities), WHO
(a document on emission estimation techniques), ECE (an emission inventory
guide for air pollution), and UNIDO (a database system for PRTR data).
Together these activities and services will be able to assist interested
countries to design and implement a national PRTR system, subject to
available resources.
12. In recognizing the importance of taking action to address the public
health and environmental hazards of chemicals, the second session of the
Commission noted the severe impacts on health of human exposure to lead and
encouraged efforts to reduce such exposure. Several intergovernmental
bodies and United Nations agencies are engaged in various ongoing
activities dealing with lead contamination, including the inhalation of
lead emitted into the air from the combustion of leaded petroleum. For
example, recommendations of a recent IPCS Environmental Health Criteria
Task Group meeting on inorganic lead included a set of public health
measures directed towards reduction and prevention of exposure to lead
through, inter alia, the use of lead in gasoline, paints, food containers,
water treatment and distribution systems, agriculture, and folk remedies
and cosmetics.
13. The most significant reductions in exposure to lead have been achieved
by the OECD countries. Environment Ministers of OECD adopted a declaration
on lead which commits their countries to advance national and cooperative
efforts to reduce risks from exposure to lead. Several other regional
initiatives and actions have been undertaken as regards the health and
environmental impact of human exposure to lead. For example, the Summit of
the Americas (Miami, December 1994), resulted in declarations supporting,
inter alia, governmental action in relation to chemical safety and the
other objectives in chapter 19, among them action regarding pesticides,
lead contamination, pollution prevention, risk reduction, waste, air and
water quality, public awareness, and implementation of the PIC procedure.
14. The UNIDO Regional Network on Pesticides in Asia and the Pacific, has
been expanded to 15 countries. Based on its successes, certain African and
Arab countries have requested UNIDO to establish a similar network for risk
reduction in agrochemical development. The UNIDO Guidelines on Integrated
Safety in Pesticide Formulation, which were formulated for the developing
countries, have been adopted in many of them. As a result of these
efforts, there has been greater attention paid to ecotoxicology and the
environmental monitoring of chemicals of concern in developing countries.
15. IPCS has published guidelines on what comprises a poison information
centre, a handbook on poison control for field use, and a manual on basic
analytical techniques. Its INTOX package, designed to help countries
establish their own poison centres, consists of a database on CD-ROM of
information on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of poisoning from
several hundred chemicals, drugs poisonous plants and animals, together
with information management software. It is available in English, French,
Indonesian, Portuguese and Spanish.
16. In a project on the prevention and disposal of obsolete pesticide
stocks, FAO is promoting the use of preventive measures to avoid further
accumulation of obsolete pesticides, developing guidelines on preventing
accumulation of obsolete pesticides, describing methods of disposal of such
pesticides in developing countries, and compiling inventories of obsolete
pesticides in 32 countries. FAO has commenced high-temperature
incineration of obsolete pesticides on a limited scale.
17. Integrated pest management (IPM) is a major strategy for reducing
reliance on pesticides. FAO is assisting countries in Asia to establish
IMP through participatory training programmes, establishing farmer field
schools and training for trainers. It is also extending the experience
gained in the rice IPM programme to other crops and other countries in
other regions where non-sustainable crop protection practices are used;
co-sponsoring, with the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP, a facility that will use
participatory approaches to promote IPM by farmers; and raising awareness,
developing capabilities to implement programmes and building national
capacities that consolidate and institutionalize national policy on the use
of pesticides within the framework of IPM principles and practices.
18. Strengthening national capabilities and capacities for managing
chemicals is a major focus of the operations of all of the agencies.
Despite diminishing resources, IOMC organizations have maintained certain
capacity-building activities - for example:
(a) A UNITAR/UNEP/FAO joint training programme, on the operation of
the PIC programme has been conducted in all regions of the world;
(b) UNEP has conducted extensive training in establishing national
information systems for managing chemicals information, on the national,
subregional, and regional levels;
(c) The ILO is currently implementing an action programme in eight
countries aimed at strengthening factory inspections in dealing with
chemical safety issues and promoting national coordination in this area;
(d) UNITAR is supporting 30 countries in the preparation of
comprehensive national profiles to assess their chemicals management
infrastructure;
(e) UNITAR has initiated a UNITAR/IOMC pilot capacity-building
programme to assist three countries in implementing chapter 19 in an
integrated way;
(f) FAO provides assistance on pesticide management in member
countries through its Technical Cooperation Programme. It has also started
a Netherlands-funded project to improve pesticide management in Sahelian
countries. IAEA and FAO are establishing a laboratory on pesticide quality
in Seibersdorf, Austria, for reference and training purposes;
(g) UNIDO, in cooperation with UNEP, has set up cleaner production
centres in 12 different countries, with a regional centre planned for
Greece;4/
(h) As part of the Global Network for Safety in Chemical Production
(GLONESA), UNIDO, jointly with the International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC) and UNESCO, has set up an advanced chemical safety
training programme using North/South cooperation. In India and Poland
efforts are under way to set up a national network on integrated safety in
chemical production, with emphasis on small- and medium-sized enterprises;
(i) IPCS has undertaken a new training initiative, based on a
multiphased approach consisting of a multisectoral briefing for high-level
national and local officials, followed by a targeted, intensive training
component on topics specifically defined by the country;
(j) The IPCS approach to training programmes for trainees in the safe
use of pesticides and poison control has led to multiplier effects in a
number of countries.
19. Sources of information useful when responding to chemical emergencies
have been established in many countries and regions, and access to their
sources has been improved. National systems for emergency preparedness and
response, including the training of personnel, with the aid of the
UNEP/APELL programme have also been adopted. A wider recognition has been
achieved at governmental and industry levels of the importance of
preventing, preparing for and responding to accidents, and including these
objectives in planning industrial developments.
III. PROMISING CHANGES
20. The recommendation of IFCS that by 1997 all countries should prepare a
national profile has received overwhelming support from developing
countries and countries in economic transition. By August 1996, more than
70 countries had formally applied to the UNITAR/IOMC National Profile
Support Programme, referred to above. The Programme is a country-driven
process involving, at the country level, all concerned parties inside and
outside the Government, while at the international level all key
organizations concerned with chemicals management cooperate in key aspects
of programme implementation. Once developed, national profiles should
provide a better basis for directing and coordinating efforts to support
the strengthening of national infrastructures for the management of
chemicals.
21. Governments, industry and non-governmental organizations have been
collecting and generating the data required for risk assessment of
chemicals produced in high volume and other chemicals of concern in the
framework of IOMC programmes on testing and assessing existing chemicals.
As a result of their cooperation, the number of high-quality assessments,
for use by countries in making decisions regarding risk management, is
being significantly increased.
22. IOMC partners are cooperating to ensure that efforts in this area are
not duplicated and that national assessments, received by international
peer groups; initial assessments, which identify the need for further work
on chemicals produced in high volume; and comprehensive assessments, on
other chemicals of concern, are used coherently, to make the best and most
useful information available globally.
23. In 1995, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a financial mechanism
for global environmental improvements, jointly administered by UNDP, UNEP,
and the World Bank, adopted an operational strategy which, for the first
time, will facilitate funding for handling chemical contaminants in
international waters. This initiative now offers the possibility of a
significant and sustainable resource base for addressing many toxic
chemical issues at the global, regional, and national level.
24. The collaboration between IFCS and IOMC in researching and arriving at
proposed recommendations for global action on POPs represents a significant
milestone in cooperation among Governments, non-governmental organizations
and intergovernmental organizations in addressing a major toxic chemical
issue. The collaboration, based upon sound science and high-quality
assessment, was conducted in an expedited, open and transparent manner, and
serves as a useful model for future initiatives to address the risks of
toxic chemicals.
25. Overall, the creation of the IOMC and IFCS has greatly improved
cooperation and coordination on toxic issues. These mechanisms have
facilitated a better understanding of all of the various initiatives taken
to meet the objectives of chapter 19 and have improved the coordination of
the various bodies engaged in work in this area.
IV. UNFULFILLED EXPECTATIONS
26. Some of the expectations relevant to chapter 19 have not been
fulfilled. For example, although IOMC partners will have produced 200 new
international chemical evaluations by the end of 1997, it will be difficult
for them to meet the target set by the Conference of 500 new evaluations by
the end of the century. Progress on the proposed strengthening of
international institutions and networks for information exchange on toxic
chemicals has been less than what is needed, and consequently the
improvements hoped for in the global sharing of data have not been
realized. One of the major hindrances is the difficulty of gaining access
to information easily at all levels (national, subnational and local). It
is unlikely that, by the year 2000, all - or even most - countries
will have systems in place for the environmentally sound management of
chemicals, despite the efforts of IOMC organizations and bilateral efforts.
27. The failure to attain the hoped for objectives can largely be
attributed to two things. First, there is a significant shortfall in the
resources necessary for the work to be done. Not only have new resources
not been forthcoming, but many of the entities involved are facing serious -
and in some cases, even precipitous - reductions in funds. This situation
is true not just at the level of intergovernmental organizations, but also
at the bilateral level and at the national level with regard to the
financial commitment Governments are willing to make for their own
programmes. Further, an increasing proportion of donor funding is
targeted, rather than general, funding. Consequently, intergovernmental
organizations have less flexibility in managing their resources creatively
and fewer opportunities for effective collaboration with others. In
addition to the resource shortage, in some areas, the commitment of some of
the partners who agreed to implement the programmes has waned.
V. EMERGING PRIORITIES
28. Recent initiatives on a number of priority chemical issues (such as
POPs) are making progress in the development of international legally
binding instruments for implementing international actions to reduce and
manage risks. Comprehensively and effectively to address urgent problems,
voluntary measures, which may be implemented as a complement to, or
independently of, legally binding instruments, should be considered and
pursued. Such voluntary measures may have a greater likelihood of
achieving targeted successes in a shorter period of time.
29. Governments have identified the management and disposal of obsolete
stocks of pesticides and possibly other chemicals as a high priority. In
view of recent global initiatives to address the problems associated with
some classes of chemicals (e.g., POPs), the issue is likely to receive
increasing attention. Currently the resources and efforts on the part of
intergovernmental organizations to assist in this area (e.g., the FAO
programme on obsolete pesticides) are limited.
30. Concern has emerged about certain toxic chemicals that may produce
their adverse effects at low environmental levels. Some of them, such as
endocrine disruptors and immuno-toxic chemicals, are coming under more
scientific and public scrutiny and may become priorities for further
research, assessment or action.
Notes
1/ Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication,
Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum), resolution 1, annex II.
2/ A/51/116, annex I, appendix II.
3/ See E/ECE/1010.
4/ See also E/CN.17/1997/2/Add.24.
-----
This document has been posted online by the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Reproduction and dissemination of the
document - in electronic and/or printed format - is encouraged, provided acknowledgement
is made of the role of the United Nations in making it available.
Date last posted: 10 December 1999 17:25:35
Comments and suggestions: DESA/DSD
|