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Thursday, 22 September
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Reports by the Contact Groups and Drafting Group to Morning Plenary
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Jamidu Katima, Tanzania, reported that the contact group on the global
plan of action had not been able to complete its work, and requested an
additional half-day of time, which was granted. After the lunch break,
he requested another half-day and evening, which were also granted.
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S. Ali M. Mousavi, Islamic Republic of Iran, reported that the contact
group on financial considerations had also been unable to complete its
work, and requested an additional day of time, which was granted.
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Raphael Azeredo, Brazil, reported that his drafting group on the
introductory paragraph to the overarching policy statement had reached
agreement on all but two points, which will be taken up by the plenary.
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Plenary
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Mark Hyman, Australia, suggested a further opening paragraph dealing
with the progress in chemicals management since the Rio Summit, at
the international, national and industry level.
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Koulibaly Moussa, Niger, supported including a reference to control
mechanisms.
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Pavan Baichoo, International Labour Organization, noted that text
referencing the Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions neglected to mention
international agreements on workplace chemicals safety.
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Qu Wensheng, China, suggested adding references to international
agreements in general to the paragraph on policies and programmes for
the sound management of chemicals.
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Tarek Eid El Ruby, Egypt, suggested noting that limited availability of,
and access to, chemicals-related information was the case particularly
in developing countries.
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George Krhoda, Kenya, said the SAICM should express a sense of urgency,
in order to help in bridging gaps in understanding.
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On risk reduction, Jamal Ara, Pakistan, asked to add the general
population to the list of affected groups.
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Yuriy Kundiyev, Ukraine, said that it was inaccurate to claim there was
no chemicals-related information available, stating that in developed
countries, such information was readily available.
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Boris Kurlyandskiy, Russian Federation, stated that chemicals-related
information was not freely available.
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Inger Schörling, Chemsec, said that the current risk assessment and risk
management system had failed, and the problem had to be addressed.
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Tim Meredith, World Health Organization, drew attention to research and
electronic resources on chemical safety.
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Bob Ford, United States, suggested that langauge on domestic and
regional implementation be retained in text on illegal international
traffic.
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Contact Groups
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The contact group on financial considerations reached agreement on a few
of the twenty subparagraphs before it, but many sections of the text,
including newly introduced proposals, were met with contention. Much
of the text remained extensively bracketed as discussion continued until
nearly midnight.
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The contact group on the global plan of action completed its work at
11:15 pm, after discussing measures and activities on heavy metals and
the risks they pose to human health and the environment. Most measures
and activities were accepted, but some are footnoted pending the
outcome of discussion on the overarching policy strategy.
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The contact group on implementation and taking stock of progress
adjourned at 11:11 pm after hearing proposals to appoint an existing
programme in the Secretariat role for SAICM. UNEP will likely be
partnered with another programme, with IOMC and WHO proposed thus
far. A break out session of regional groups discussed some of the
more controversial issues.
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Side Event: Africa Stockpiles Programme
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WWF presented a lunchtime side event on the Africa Stockpiles Programme,
a continent-wide project which aims to clear all obsolete pesticide
stocks from Africa and put in place measures to help prevent their
recurrence.
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Around PrepCom-3
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UNEP International Chemicals Management booth.
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IPEN booth.
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ICCA booth.
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CropLife International booth.
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UNDP booth.
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UNITAR booth.
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World Bank booth.
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Rotterdam Convention booth.
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UNIDO display and table.
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Delegates confer before the morning plenary.
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IOMC chair Rob Visser confers with Chris Vanden Bilcke (Belgium) during
afternoon plenary.
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Some of the friendly United Nations security staff who watch over us.
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