Statement
of John Buccini, Chairman,
UNEP
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on
Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs)
before the
Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. My name is John Buccini and I am here today, in response to your invitation, in my capacity as Chairman of the UNEP Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee that developed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Recognizing that I am here primarily to respond to any questions that the Committee may pose, I will confine my opening remarks to a few observations about the treaty and its development.
The
Stockholm Convention has as its objective, the protection of human health and
the environment from POPs. It was
developed in response to an acceptance by the international community of the
need to take collective global action to reduce and/or eliminate the generation
and release of POPs. This acceptance
was based on the recognition that the continued generation and release to the
environment of POPs is not a sustainable practice as once released into the
environment, POPs undergo widespread environmental distribution through natural
processes, contaminate environmental media and living organisms including the
food chain, persist for very long periods of time, and pose a threat to present
and future generations of both humans and wildlife.
The
process of developing the convention was initiated in May 1995 by the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
In March 1996, an agreement was reached that there was sufficient
scientific evidence available to justify taking immediate international
action on POPs. This agreement has
underpinned and given a sense of urgency to the efforts made by stakeholders
from all sectors of society including governments, intergovernmental
organizations, nongovernmental organizations (including both industry and
public interest groups) and aboriginal groups.
The
activities involved in developing the convention have resulted in a broad
acceptance of the urgent need for action in countries around the world. This is demonstrated by the fact that less
than one year after the convention was opened for signature in Stockholm on May
23, 2001, 128 countries and the European Community have signed the treaty and 7
have become Parties through ratification or accession. Another indicator is the number and nature
of the actions that stakeholders are taking to address the risks posed by
POPs. Based on an annual UNEP survey of
representatives of all stakeholder groups, about 110 countries are already
active in taking action to address POPs and actions are also being taken by the
public, industry and aboriginal and public interest groups around the world. As an example, the International POPs
Elimination Network was established during the negotiation of the treaty and
today includes over 400 public interest groups from countries around the globe
with programs to address POPs issues at the local, national, regional and
international levels. This is indeed
encouraging to note.
Let me now
turn to the convention itself. In my
view, there are three key provisions in the treaty – the controls on twelve
POPs, the evaluation of future candidates for addition to the treaty, and
financial and technical assistance for developing countries and countries with
economies in transition.
The control provisions of the convention address
three areas: intentionally produced POPs, unintentionally produced POPs, and
POPs in stockpiles and wastes.
For intentionally produced POPs (industrial chemicals
and pesticides), the goal of the convention is to eliminate
their production and use and measures are specified for 10 chemicals. To prevent the introduction into commerce of
new POPs, Parties with regulatory and assessment schemes for
industrial chemicals and pesticides will, in conducting assessments of new
substances, take “measures to regulate with the aim of preventing the
production and use of” new POPs. In
assessing the risks posed by in-use substances, Parties will consider the
screening criteria for candidates for addition to the Convention (specified in
Annex D) to identify, at the earliest opportunity, candidates for further
consideration.
For
unintentionally produced POPs (byproducts of industrial and combustion processes, such
as dioxins and furans) the convention goal is the continuing minimization and,
where feasible, the ultimate elimination of the total releases of such POPs
derived from anthropogenic sources. An
approach has been developed that enables each country to define its priorities,
develop a national action plan within two years of entry into force of the
convention, and then implement the plan.
For
stockpiles and wastes, the goal is to ensure the
environmentally sound management of stockpiles that consist of or contain
intentionally produced POPs, and of wastes, including products and articles
upon becoming wastes that consist of, contain or are contaminated with
intentionally or unintentionally produced POPs. Measures are specified to prevent the reuse or recycling of POPs
and to manage these materials to prevent releases to the environment of POPs
during storage, handling, transport or disposal activities.
The
second major provision is a science-based approach to systematically identify
and review future candidate chemicals for addition to the convention. The process and scientific criteria for this
provision are specified in the convention and a POPs Review Committee will be
established at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to evaluate
nominations submitted by Parties.
Considerable attention was paid to the need for openness and
transparency in this process to ensure that all candidates will be fully and
fairly evaluated.
In the
third major provision, the convention specifies that developing
countries and countries with economies in transition will need technical and
financial assistance and that regional and subregional centres will be
established for capacity building and the transfer of technology to assist
countries in need. Developed countries
have agreed to provide technical assistance and new and additional financial
resources to meet agreed full incremental implementation costs. The Global Environment Facility is named as
the principal entity of the interim financial mechanism to handle funding of
capacity building and other related activities. Financial support has already begun to flow and an estimated 50
countries have already initiated action to prepare their national plans to
implement the convention. This is
indeed encouraging.
In my
view, the Stockholm Convention represents a significant advance in protecting
health and the environment from what many regard as the most toxic chemicals
that have ever been produced. There is
a high level of interest and activity among all stakeholder groups in the POPs
area and I expect that this will continue into the future. In this regard, I am pleased to note that
you have invited both industry and environmental non-government organizations
to appear before you during this session.
The current rapid pace of signature and ratification
of the convention augurs well for continued
international action on POPs. The
convention will enter into force 90 days after 50 Parties have ratified
it. Many contend that the urgent nature
of POPs problems warrants expedited entry into force and concerted, collective
actions to address these problems and their solutions. Some stakeholders have urged governments
around the world to ratify the POPs treaty prior to the Johannesburg Summit in
August of this year.
In
closing, I wish to state my hope that the United States will be among the
Parties attending the first Conference of Parties, given the important
decisions that must be taken at that meeting to implement the convention and
the role that the United States can play in these matters. I look forward to the United
States being a full and effective contributor in implementing the new
international controls on POPs under the Stockholm Convention. I
note that the United States government is proceeding in an expeditious manner
to ratify and implement the convention and I am pleased to be here today to
provide any information that may be of assistance in that process.