IFCS
Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety
20 September 2001
Issue No. 3
Information Circular
Table of Contents:
GLOBALLY HARMONIZED SYSTEM (GHS): UPDATE
FAO CODE OF CONDUCT ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND USE OF PESTICIDES - REVISED
ILO ADOPTS CONVENTION ON AGRICULTURE
IPEN'S STOCKHOLM DECLARATION ON POPS
PREPARING THE HEALTH SECTOR FOR THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY
CHEMICAL HAZARD COMMUNICATION AND THE GLOBALLY HARMONIZED SYSTEM (GHS) OF
CLASSIFICATION AND LABELLING OF CHEMICALS: UPDATE
At Forum II (1997), the IFCS emphasized the importance of the GHS, and recommended that it be
implemented through a non-binding instrument which would be available to all countries. In October,
2000, Forum III recommended that guidance and other tools necessary for GHS implementation be
made available to interested parties prior to Forum IV and encouraged countries to implement the
GHS as soon as possible with a view to having the system fully operational by 2008. The full text of
the recommendation can be found in Annex 6 of the Forum III Report located on the IFCS web site at
www.ifcs.int/ifcs/forum3/final.htm.
The GHS technical work is now complete and being considered for approval by the new UN
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Sub-Committee of Experts on the GHS, recently established
to oversee the maintenance, updating and promotion of the new global instrument. At the SubCommittee’s first session (9–11 July 2001), UNITAR and ILO informed participants on the recent
establishment of a programme on training and capacity building to assist countries to develop and
implement chemical hazard communication and GHS action plans. The strength of the programme
lies in its multi-stakeholder approach and the country-driven process which will be undertaken to
achieve the action plans. Work is already underway.
The UNITAR/ILO/IOMC training and capacity building programme will be carried out in a number
of pilot countries over 2 years. Projects will consist of 3 phases:
1. national awareness-raising, a national and international expert workshop, situational and
comprehensibility planning;
2. action plan development;
3. initiation of action plan activities.
Detailed peer-reviewed guidance material is in preparation and will be made available on the
UNITAR web site.
A report on the work of the ILO Working Group for the harmonization of chemical hazard
communication will be presented to the Governing Body of ILO at its November 2001 session for
endorsement. National delegations are encouraged to contact official delegations to the ILO
Coordinating Body to support GHS implementation.
For further information, please consult the following web sites:
ILO: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/ghs/; or the
UNECE: http://www.unece.org/trans/main/dgdb/dgsubc4/c4infdoc_07_2001.html; or
UNITAR: http://www.unitar.org/cwm/homepage/b/hc/index.htm
Secretariat: c/o World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (22) 791 3873/4333/3650; Fax: +41 (22) 791 4875; Email: ifcs@who.ch; Website: www.ifcs.ch
FAO CODE OF CONDUCT ON THE DISTRIBUTION AND USE OF PESTICIDES - REVISED
Presentation for Adoption - November 2001
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is pleased to note the progress
that has been made in the revision of the International Code of Conduct for the Distribution and Use
of Pesticides. These revisions bring the Code in line with current international approaches to
chemicals management, in particular through the adoption of the life-cycle concept for pesticides, the
focus on risk reduction, and the cooperative arrangements between all the relevant stakeholders based
on an accepted shared responsibility. The revised Code will be presented for adoption at the 31st
meeting of the FAO, 2-13 November 2001. Countries are therefore called upon to express their
support for the adoption of the revised Code of Conduct by contacting their national FAO Focal
Point in the country and/or their national representative to the FAO in Rome these being the
participants at the November meeting.
Documents (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French & Spanish),.including the revised text of the
International Code of Conduct on The Distribution and Use of Pesticides (C 2001/7), can be found on
the website under: http://www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/conf/c2001/c2001-e.htm.
ILO ADOPTS CONVENTION ON AGRICULTURE
IUF mobilizes support for ratification and implementation
On 22 June 2001 the 89th session of the International Labour Conference adopted a Convention and
Recommendation on Safety and Health in Agriculture.
The Convention (No. 184) and
Recommendation (No. 192) address a range of chemical safety issues identified as priorities by the
IFCS including: importation; classification; packaging and labelling; disposal of chemical waste,
obsolete chemicals and empty containers; risk assessment; and provision of adequate and appropriate
information. The full texts of the Convention and Recommendation (English, French and Spanish)
can be accessed at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc89/comreps.htm.
The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied
workers' Associations (IUF) welcomed this adoption, stating that: "These instruments mark the first
time that agricultural workers are formally guaranteed in international law the same rights and levels
of protection as other categories of workers." The IUF will now be mobilizing its international
membership for wide-scale ratification of the Convention and Recommendation and their effective
adoption into national legislation. The full text of the IUF press release can be read at:
http://www.iuf.org/iuf/Press/010622.htm.
IPEN'S STOCKHOLM DECLARATION ON POPS
The International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), currently comprising some 300 NGOs in 70
countries, has been active since 1998 to mobilize support for the global elimination of persistent
organic pollutants (POPs) on an expedited, yet socially equitable basis. Whilst applauding the
adoption of the Stockholm POPs Convention, IPEN recognizes that this represents just the starting
point for the eradication of these substances, and has since published its own Stockholm Declaration
which outlines their renewed commitment to work towards the elimination of POPs and other
persistent toxic substances from the world's environment. The final paragraph of the IPEN
Declaration is an affirmation of their intention to "… secure the ratification of the Stockholm
Convention by all countries in advance of the Rio+10 World Summit on Sustainable Development (to
be held in Johannesburg in 2002) …". The successful achievement of this IPEN target would also
represent a successful achievement of the Forum III recommendation that the Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants will have entered into force by 2004.
The full text of the IPEN Stockholm Declaration can be accessed on the IPEN website :
http://www.ipen.org/.
PREPARING THE HEALTH SECTOR FOR THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Conference on Chemical Safety in Africa, Cape Town - July 2001
The WHO-HQ/AFRO First Conference on Chemical Safety in Africa: Preparing the Health Sector
for the Challenges of the 21st Century, was held from 24-27 July 2001, Cape Town, South Africa.
This meeting, attended by representatives of the health sector from 19 countries in the Africa region,
was the first of its kind in Africa devoted to raising the awareness of health officials of the
relationship between chemicals safety issues and the health of their people. Mr Ibrahima Sow, Vice
President IFCS (Africa Region) presented an overview of IFCS work, emphasizing the outcomes
from the Africa Regional Group at Forum III (Brazil, October 2000).
The meeting agenda was developed around the chemical safety issues that had been previously
identified as priorities for action by governments at Forum III. In preparation for the meeting, most
participants had been able to consult with their IFCS National Focal Point, and were thus well-briefed
on the issues, which were presented and discussed from the health perspective. Priority areas for
action were identified to serve as guidelines for planning at the national level. Within the issues,
participants identified obstacles that could impede progress being made, and outlined possible
solutions and actions that could be taken by the health sector. It was agreed that for some actions the
health sector should have the lead national responsibility whereas for others it would play an
important supportive role. Once again, the importance of multi-sectoral coordination and
collaboration was emphasized.
As follow-up to the meeting, it was suggested that the participating countries convene national
workshops involving all the relevant sectors to develop national action plans for the health sector.
WHO/AFRO stands ready to assist countries in this process with both technical and financial support.
IFCS National Focal Points are strongly encouraged to contact their country's representative to
this meeting (see participant list) to discuss possible collaboration.
The Final Delegates' Report (English and French) and the list of participants can be accessed on the
IFCS website at: http://www.who.int/ifcs/regional/regions.html#regions.
FORUM IV
Forum IV will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2003 – mark your calendar!