A Brief Introduction to THE SAICM

The concept of a SAICM has been discussed by the UNEP Governing Council (GC) in various forms since 1995, including in:

• UNEP GC decision 18/12 of May 1995, which invites UNEP’s Executive Director to convene an expert group to consider and recommend further measures to reduce risks from a limited number of chemicals;

• an expert group meeting in April 1996, which made recommendations in four areas, namely: inadequate capacity of developing countries to handle issues of hazardous chemicals and pesticides; disposal of unwanted stocks of pesticides and other chemicals; insufficient information for chemicals management decision-making and action; and possible need to ban and phase out certain chemicals; and

• UNEP GC decision 19/13 of February 1997, which requests a report on options for enhanced coherence and efficiency among international activities related to chemicals.

 
Please return on 4 October for complete ENB coverage of SAICM Prepcom-2.