[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 161 (Wednesday, August 20, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44303-44304]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22025]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice No. 2590]
Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science; Public Meeting on an
International Agreement on Prior Informed Consent for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides
SUMMARY: This public meeting will provide an overview of ongoing
negotiations through the U.N. Environment Program and the Food and
Agriculture Organization to develop a binding agreement on the
application of a prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous
chemicals and pesticides. The meeting will take place from 2:00 to 4:00
p.m. on September 24 in Room 6909, State Department, 2201 C Street
Northwest, Washington, D.C. Attendees should use the entrance at C
Street, and should provide Eunice Mourning (202-647-9266) with their
date of birth and social security number by noon on September 23.
Attendees should bring picture identification.
For further information, please contact Mr. Trigg Talley, U.S.
Department of State, OES/ENV, Room 4325, 2201 C Street NW, Washington,
D.C. 20520. Phone 202-647-5808, fax 202-647-5947.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States, through an interagency
working group chaired by the State Department, is involved in
negotiations through the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
and the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) on an agreement that would
set into place a procedure for prior informed consent (PIC) for trade
in certain especially hazardous chemicals and pesticides. Three
negotiating sessions have taken place thus far, with two more sessions
planned.
The agreement would make binding a currently voluntary scheme
contained in the FAO International Code of Conduct on the Distribution
and Use of Pesticides and the UNEP London Guidelines for the Exchange
of Information on Chemicals in International Trade. The PIC procedure
was developed in recognition of the fact that many countries in the
developing world have inadequate capacity to generate information
necessary to make decisions regarding how to effectively manage risks
of especially hazardous chemicals, and in certain cases to ensure
adequate compliance with risk management decisions. The procedure
assists countries in learning more about the characteristics of certain
especially hazardous chemicals that may be shipped to them, initiates a
decision making process on the future import of these chemicals by the
countries themselves, and facilitates the dissemination of this
decision to other countries.
The voluntary PIC regime has been in place since 1991. 151
countries participate in the current scheme, which is jointly
administered by the Plant Protection Division of FAO (for pesticides)
and the UNEP International Registry for Potentially Toxic Chemicals
(for other chemicals). Most major industrial chemical and pesticide
associations support and participate in the system. Under the
procedure, each country establishes a designated national authority to
administer the procedure. In the United States, the Environmental
Protection Agency's Assistant Administrator for Pesticides, Prevention
and Toxic Substances acts as the designated national authority.
Chemicals eligible for the PIC procedure include those which have
been banned or severely restricted by participating countries, as well
as certain acutely hazardous pesticides which--even though they are not
eligible on the basis of bans or severe restrictions--are likely to
pose particular problems in developing countries lacking the ability to
impose the kinds of rigorous handling requirements available in
developed countries.
Under the PIC procedure, countries notify the UNEP/FAO secretariat
of domestic control actions to ban or severely restrict chemicals. A
UNEP/FAO Group of Experts meets annually to prioritize among those
chemicals eligible for the PIC procedure, and gives direction regarding
the development of Decision Guidance Documents (DGDs) to provide
information relating to each of the chemicals to be included in the
procedure. DGDs describe the chemical and associated toxicological
properties, as well as government control actions and the reasons for
them. Once approved, the Decision Guidance Documents are circulated to
participating countries for decision. In their decision, countries
indicate whether they will permit use and importation, prohibit use and
importation, or permit importation only under specified conditions. The
response may be final, or countries may provide an interim response.
Importing countries are expected to ensure that their decisions are
applied to all sources of import and to domestic production for
domestic use; exporting countries are expected to ensure that exports
do not occur contrary to the decisions of importing countries. So far,
16 chemicals have been included in the procedure, and DGDs for a number
of others are under development.
In order to enhance participation in the system, governments agreed
in 1994 through FAO and UNEP to undertake negotiations to replace the
voluntary process with a treaty-based regime. Negotiations have been
underway since 1996, with three negotiating sessions occurring so far.
Two more sessions are planned, with one session October 20-24, 1997,
and one for January 1998. A signing conference is planned for sometime
next spring.
The current negotiating text, as well as more complete information
on the voluntary procedure and the negotiations generally, is located
on the internet on the PIC Home Page (http://irptc.unep.ch/pic/
h2.html), which can also be accessed through the UNEP Home Page
(www.unep.ch).
The United States has advocated that the binding agreement reflect
the scope and intent of the voluntary prior informed consent procedure.
We have advocated greater formality in the procedures for consideration
of additional chemicals to the list, reflecting the more formal nature
of the
[[Page 44304]]
agreement. The Administration expects that the Agreement will be a
treaty, which will be submitted to the Senate for advice and consent
necessary for ratification, and that certain changes would need to be
made to Section 12 of the Toxic Substances Control Act and Section 17
of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act to meet an
obligation to ensure that exports of PIC-listed chemicals do not occur
contrary to decisions regarding those chemicals by importing countries.
In the negotiations, other countries have made proposals which
would make eligible a somewhat broader range of chemicals than under
the voluntary guidelines, and which would include information exchange
provisions which, if accepted, could require other changes to TSCA and
FIFRA, as well as the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. In particular,
there are proposals to include provisions requiring notifications for
exports of chemicals which are banned or severely restricted under
national law (Article 11 of the proposed text), as well as certain
proposals regarding labeling and material safety data sheets for
chemicals (Article 12 of the proposed text).
The Department of State is issuing this notice to help ensure that
potentially affected parties are aware of and knowledgeable about the
parameters of these negotiations. In the future, we will be contacting
interested organizations about planned briefings by mail or fax. Those
organizations which cannot attend the meeting, but wish to remain
informed, should provide Mr. Trigg Talley of the Department of State
with their address, telephone and fax numbers.
Dated: August 14, 1997.
Trigg Talley,
Foreign Affairs Officer, Office of Environmental Policy.
[FR Doc. 97-22025 Filed 8-19-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-09-M
