CIEL joins the IPEN Steering Committee in preparing and submitting suggestions to UNEP regarding elements of a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM)

IPEN Steering Committee’s submission to SAICM

The IPEN Steering Committee prepared a paper on a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) in response to a call for contributions by UNEP on possible draft elements of a SAICM. All submissions received will be summarized in a UNEP paper and presented to the SAICM PrepCom1 in the six UN Languages.

The paper, "Elements of a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management," was written both to stimulate a discussion on the SAICM process within the international NGO community and to provide an initial intervention into the process itself. The IPEN SC paper can be found on the UNEP web site at: http://www.chem.unep.ch/saicm/SAICM/resprecvd/ngo/ipen.pdf

Background: What is SAICM?

The Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) both issued calls for a new global intergovernmental process, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). The goal of the SAICM will be to achieve, by the year 2020, an international chemicals management regime that ensures that chemicals are globally used and produced in ways that minimize significant harm to human health and the environment.

The first SAICM preparatory meeting, SAICM PrepCom1, will be held in Bangkok from 9 to 13 November, 2003. It is anticipated that a minimum of one additional PrepCom will be needed (probably in 2004), and that the SAICM will be adopted at a high level at the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) that will be held in late 2005 or in early 2006. The SAICM process is intended to be inter-sectoral. Participation in the process will come not only from environmentmMinistries, but also from ministries with responsibility for health, agriculture, labor, industry, development and others, as relevant. It is additionally expected that public interest and environmental NGOs will be recognized as important SAICM stakeholders, along with labor organizations, industry organizations and possibly others.

For more information, please visit the following websites:

• Information on the SAICM can be found on the UNEP website at: http://www.chem.unep.ch/saicm/
  
• The Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety website at: http://www.who.int/ifcs/Saicm.htm