NEGOTIATORS FINISH PACT ON CHEMICALS

Abstract

NEGOTIATORS AT THE UNITED Nations International Conference on Chemicals Management completed a voluntary global strategy for safely managing chemicals late on Feb. 6. The meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is the culmination of three years of talks on a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). The deal is designed to protect people and the environment from the potentially harmful effects of chemicals. It is primarily aimed at helping developing countries with weak or no regulatory systems for chemicals management. SAICM is a guideline, not a binding treaty, providing a list of policy options that these nations could employ, such as regulations on chemical waste (C&EN, Sept. 19,2005, page 27). Countries both rich and poor, the chemical industry, and labor and environmental activists around the world endorse the concept of SAICM. The Bush Administration had taken a series of hard-line positions on seemingly arcane points that had threatened to derail the talks. For instance, Cl...