The Honourable Rejoyce Mabudafhasi: Deputy Minister of
Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa
Honourable Guests
Henrique Cavalcanti, Assistant Director General of the United Nations and President of the
Intergovernmental Forum for Chemical Safety
Alain Perroy, the Council Secretary of the International Council of Chemical Associations
Marcel Boisard, Executive Director of UNITAR
Dr. Udo Oels, Member of the Board of Bayer
Dr. Laurraine Lötter, Executive Director, Chemical and Allied Industries Association of
South Africa
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is an honour for me to address you today as the World Summit on Sustainable Development
takes place in our beautiful country. I hope that you will have time to visit some of the sights
of which we are so proud before you return to your countries.
As you might be aware that during this week we were negotiating text related to the
implementation of programme related to priority, I wish to indicated that we have made much
progress since Bali and happy to announce that we have agreed on programmes that will
protect human health and the environment and of essence I need to say that the Bahia
Declaration and action beyond 2000 are the basis for initiating partnership between developed
and developing nations. I further wish to condone the IFCS and the forum members in
agreeing on the declaration. Furthermore, I wish to condone industry on the programmes and
commitments that have shown since Rio.
Although relatively small by international standards, the chemical industry is a significant
contributor to the South African economy. The chemical industry in South Africa contributes
around 5% to the Gross Domestic Product of the country and employs approximately 200 000
people. Annual production of primary and secondary process chemicals is in the order of 13
million tonnes with a value of around 18 billion Rand. The industry is the largest of its kind
in Africa.
The chemical industry is also one of the industrial sectors in South Africa that has shown
significant promise in increasing exports and has been identified by the government in the
recently released Integrated Manufacturing Strategy, as a sector which should be emphasised.
The industry is an important source of raw materials for a variety of industries, which are not
part of the chemical industry. These include for example construction materials, additives in
fuels, foodstuffs and cosmetics, water treatment chemicals. In addition, agriculture and
mining are dependent on a variety of chemical products for their success.
The local industry has restructured since 1994 to compete internationally and has
demonstrated consistent growth in exports. Increasing penetration of the European market in
particular has required that local companies implement European chemical safety
requirements. The introduction of a new European Union directive on chemical safety is
expected to add significantly to the costs of chemical companies exporting to that market.
The Constitution of South Africa is the overarching legislative framework, which assigns
responsibility for the three spheres of government, i.e. national, provincial and local. The
complex requirements of a chemicals management system have resulted in a number of laws
that impact directly on the management of chemicals. These laws distinguish between three
main types of chemical, namely:

Industrial and consumer chemicals

Agrochemicals

Pharmaceuticals.
The management of chemical safety from a regulatory perspective remains fragmented
despite efforts to co-ordinate government activity in this regard. Addressing this problem is
not only a challenge for South Africa but for the international community as well.
Our Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is the focal point for multi-lateral
environmental agreements and participates actively in the international agencies that deal with
chemicals management. Furthermore, our Department is currently involved in the law reform
process that is exploring ways of developing integrated chemicals management legislation.
We are confident that the Summit Heads of State meeting that starts on Monday will produce
some concrete outcomes particularly in the major theme areas that have been identified by
governments as being the most important to address the overarching problem of poverty and
lack of development in the developing world. If we look at thee themes, water, energy,
health, agriculture and biodiversity, we recognise the role that chemicals will play in the
achievement of goals set out ion these areas.
In addition, the Draft Plan of Implementation identifies specific actions in respect of the
management of chemicals. The objectives include:

Promote ratification of the Conventions dealing with chemicals of which I will
gladly announce that South Africa has deposited the accession instrument to the
Rotterdam Convention and the ratification instrument to the Stockholm Convention.

Develop a strategic approach to the international chemicals management based on
the Bahia Declaration.

Encourage countries to implement the Globally Harmonised System.

Encourage partnerships to promote activities aimed at enhancing the sound
management of chemicals, including raising awareness.

Promote efforts to prevent illegal trafficking in hazardous chemicals.

Support developing countries in strengthening their capacity for the sound
management of chemicals.

Encourage development of information on chemicals.
The International Council of Chemical Associations’ idea of developing a global action plan
to build capacity in the sound management of chemicals is a welcome initiative in support of
these objectives.
In my capacity as Chair person of the Preparatory Committee for the Partnership Conference
for the African Process for the Development and Protection of the Coastal and Marine
Environment, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, I have travelled a great deal in Africa and
have on many occasions had discussions with my counterparts in other countries and we all
agree that the sound management of chemicals is an integral part of sustainable development.
Many Africans die each year as a result of poisoning by chemicals. In the Declaration of the
African Ministerial Preparatory Committee held last year in Nairobi, the necessity to address
the problems that African countries are facing in the sound management of chemicals was
emphasised. The need was reiterated during the African Conference on Chemical Safety held
last month in Dakar. During this meeting, countries called for extension of Responsible Care
to more countries in Africa.
I have read the global Sectoral report to UNEP and agree that while progress has been made
in minimising the negative impacts of chemicals on our communities, much remains to be
done. One of the major challenges facing us all is the dissemination of accurate information
about the hazards that the use of chemicals can present to workers and other users.
Although the Summit is primarily a gathering of Heads of State, industry should not only play
an important supporting role but should make commitments on how business should be done
to support the goals of sustainable development. It is opportune that the World Summit
follows the founding meeting of the African Union. This founding meeting is of great
significance not only to our continent but also the world. An extract from President Mbeki’s
speech at the launch of the African Union lat month presents an important challenge to the
private sector.
I quote “We must mobilise all segments of civil society, including women, youth, labour and
the private sector to act together to maximise our impact and change our continent for the
better”.
We appreciate the support that the ICCA provided our national chemical industry association,
the Chemical and Allied Industries Association, to undertake the capacity building case study
for South Africa. A number of our government departments participated in the study and we
are looking forward to working together with stakeholders on implementation of the findings.
We recognise the role that Responsible Care has played in South Africa in integrating health,
safety and environmental considerations into business decision making. As stated in the
global Sectoral report to UNEP, at a national level much remains to be done. We trust that
our South African chemical industry will play a significant role in the development to the
ICCA capacity building action plan. As government, we look forward to reaping the benefits
of its implementation in South Africa, the region and the continent.
Achievement of the goals and targets set in the Bahia Declaration, which we are confident
will be endorsed as one of the outcomes of the Summit, will require the co-operation of all
stakeholders and we look forward to working more closely with the chemical industry in
achieving these goals and targets. We are in the process f completing our National Profile on
the Infrastructure for the Sound Management of Chemicals and wish to thank UNITAR,
particularly Mr. Boisard and Halpaap on the efforts in this matter. We plan to initiate a
process of formulation of national strategies to deal with the following Bahia targets after the
completion of the National Profile.

Prevention of illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products and countries will have
elaborated their national strategies.

Dissemination of international information on chemicals.

Integrated and ecologically sound pest and vector management.

Exchange of information on chemicals.

Contribution to the international report on the problem of acutely toxic pesticides
and severely hazardous pesticide formulations and recommending sound
management options.

Identification of chemicals of major concern as part of national profile in order to
contribute to the report on risk reduction initiatives.

Initiation of the APELL system (Awareness for Preparedness of Emergencies at
Local Level).

Initiation of the CIEN (Chemical Information Environmental Network).
We will also consider:

The potential to establish common principles and harmonised approaches for risk
methodologies on specific toxicological endpoints will be available.

Action Plans for safe management of obsolete stocks of pesticides and other
chemicals and to this end have submitted an application for funding to the Global
Environment Facility to develop a National Implementation Plan under the
Stockholm Convention.

Development of Waste Information System as forerunner to a Release and Transfer
Register or emissions inventory.
We are already working with our social partners, business and labour and improving
accessibility of hazard information through the implementation of the Global Harmonised
System of Chemical Classification and Labelling. As you are aware, the South African
government through the Fund for Research into Development, Growth and Equity is funding
a project on the implementation of the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and
Labelling of Chemicals. This project, which is also supported by the United Nations Institute
of Training and Research, is being undertaken under the auspices of the National Economic
Development and Labour Advisory Council. The involvement of this statutory tripartite
structure in this project is a reflection of the importance that government, business and labour
accord to this initiative. We are pleased to have been identified as one of the pilot countries in
southern Africa for the implementation of this important imitative.
We are confident that the greater capacity in the area of hazard communication that exists in
the developed world will be harnessed by the International Council of Chemical Associations
to build the capacity on our country and others to extend the capacity of developing countries
to implement this important initiative. This initiative is not only important for us in respect of
improving the accessibility of chemical hazard information to workers and consumers but also
to facilitate the export of our chemicals products to the rest of the world.
Lack of harmonisation in hazard communication requirements in Africa requires transport
contractors to carry three or four sets of emergency response information cards as they
transport chemicals through Africa. This clearly not only adds to the cost of transportation
but also contributes to the risk of confusion about the chemicals being transported. This
example highlights the necessity of promoting harmonisation at a regional and global level.
Another area where we believe that the chemical industry can assist governments is the
improved dissemination of information that would help us in the treatment and prevention of
chemical poisoning cases. In South Africa, we only have one Poison Centre and in other parts
of our region, very few centres exist. We believe that dissemination of chemical hazard
information to poison centres and to users of chemicals is ka key intervention in the
prevention of poisoning which often results as a result of misuse of a chemical.
I would like to invite the International Council of Chemical Associations to continue to
support our national association and in particular assist us in playing a role in the extension of
a sound chemical management approach to the rest of the African continent in support of the
New Plan for Africa’s Development.