Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety – IFCS

The Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) was an alliance of stakeholders concerned with the sound management of chemicals. It operated based on full and open participation of all partners, serving as a facilitator and advocate for bringing order to global actions taken for chemical safety.

The idea of an intergovernmental forum to address chemical safety originated during preparations for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) and was called for in Chapter 19 of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the conference.

After the adoption of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) by the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) in February 2006, the Forum was forced to consider its future role. The sixth meeting of the IFCS in 2008 proposed integration with SAICM as an advisory body. However, in 2009 the ICCM rejected this proposal and the IFCS has been dormant since.