Health and environmental impact of toxic chemicals: chemical management policies of Russia and EU countries
Moscow Seminar, 13-14 November 2005
On the eve of European Parliament's decision concerning REACH - Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals, which is designed to make companies prove that substances used in their products are safe - Eco-Accord in cooperation and with financial support from Chemsec (Sweden), The International POPs Elimination Project (IPEP) and the European Eco-Forum held a workshop HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF TOXIC CHEMICALS: CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT POLICIES OF RUSSIA AND EU COUNTRIES". It was the first multisectoral and multistakeholder seminar in the Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia region (EECCA) focused on detailed discussion of opportunities to harmonise national chemical management legislations of the EECCA countries with REACH. The workshop in Moscow opens a number of meetings where issues of REACH implementation and its compliance with EECCA national systems of standards are addressed. In December 2005 similar meetings will be held in Belarus and in Ukraine.
Moscow seminar was attended by NGOs from the EECCA region, representatives from governmental institutions, business and academia. Presentations were made by EECCA experts, representatives of Chemsec, IPEP and Eco-Forum working on issues of chemicals management, chemical safety, classification and labeling of chemicals, risk assessment, chemicals impact on human health and the environment, public involvement into decision making on toxic substances.
Specifically for the workshop a survey sought to assess Russian chemical management legislation (including both the already existing and draft laws and regulations), to review the national policy in the sphere of regulation of chemical substances, including inter alia issues of chemical safety, control and enforcement was prepared. The survey also incorporates good practices of sustainable chemical management, both at the governmental level and at the level of NGOs. Besides that, the survey provides specific recommendations for improvement of the Russian legislation in the sphere of regulation of chemical substances. In particular, these recommendations call Russian authorities to ensure integration of chemical safety issues into governmental development strategies, programs and plans; to ratify international environmental treaties on chemical safety and ensure efficient public participation in their implementation; to guarantee transparency of finance flows from IFIs and donor countries for elimination of toxic chemicals and search for safer alternatives.
The second day of the workshop was focused on the role of NGOs in addressing problems of toxic impact on human health and the environment. Outcomes of the most successful IPEP projects were presented. Workshop participants discussed perspectives of NGO involvement into activities on chemical safety and international events on chemicals management. Ways and obstacles of making local NGOs more active in addressing issues of chemical safety were discussed.
It was decided to form an EECCA NGO network of experts working on chemical safety and related issues.
Workshop main outcomes will be placed on Eco-Accord website.