Intergovernmental conference opens in Bonn
On the occasion of the 9th intergovernmental conference of the PIC Convention, which began in Bonn on 30 September, Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin called for an end to theunacceptable burden on people and the environment, particularly in developing countries, which arises from global trade in chemicals. "The Johannesburg Summit cleared the way for a new internationalchemicals policy", said Trittin. "Eventually, there will only be production, trading and use of those chemicals with a minimum impact on the environment and human health". Hazardous chemicals, whichit is estimated still damage the health of hundreds of thousands of people each year, must be replaced gradually. The PIC Convention does not ban trade but subjects it to stringent rules and is astep in the right direction. It must enter into force as soon as possible. That would be one more piece of global justice, particularly for the poorer countries", said Trittin.
Gila Altmann, the parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Environment Ministry, opened the Conference, which will continue until 4 October. The Conference aims at proposing further substancesfor inclusion in the Convention, among them a number of additional pesticides and asbestos. The existing voluntary PIC procedure will be further developed and harmonised, so that the Convention cantake full effect following its entry into force. To this end, steps such as cooperation projects and technology transfer must be taken to enable developing and threshold countries to build up aninfrastructure for appropriate chemicals management. As one of the main exporters of chemicals, Germany has for many years acknowledged its responsibility in this area: over the past 15 years,projects have been set up with a total investment of around 280 million euros, for example those recently commenced in Thailand and Argentina.
In 1998 for the first time the PIC Convention made the rules on the global trade in hazardous chemicals binding under international law. This step was motivated by, for example, WHO estimates thatin the 1990s plant protection and pest control agents alone caused each year around 1 million cases of poisoning with about 20 000 deaths worldwide. Less developed countries were particularlyaffected. The chemicals named in the Convention - to date, 22 agricultural chemicals and 5 industrial chemicals, including DDT pentachlorphenol and PCB - are not banned but are subject to a stringentregime, the so-called PIC procedure. PIC stands for 'prior informed consent' and means that the country of origin can only export these hazardous chemicals if the country of destination agrees totheir import, after being informed of the hazardous nature of the chemicals. At present, it is not yet possible to ban these chemicals because equivalent replacement substances are not sufficientlyavailable. To date, 33 countries, among them Germany, have ratified the Convention. It will enter into force when 50 countries have ratified, which is expected to happen in about 2004.
The Federal Republic of Germany has decades of experience and relevant know-how in the chemicals sector. The German Government has therefore applied for Germany to become the headquarters of theSecretariats of both the PIC Convention and the Stockholm POPs Convention concerning a ban on twelve persistent organic pollutants. This will strengthen Bonn's role as a UN location. Along with theMontreal Protocol on Substances which Deplete the Ozone Layer and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, these Conventions are importantbuilding blocks in the development of a comprehensive international body of regulation on chemicals safety.