SUNS4507 Tuesday 14 September 1999

Geneva, Sept 13 (Someshwar Singh) -- Developing countries have voiced their concern against a rushed, last-minute deal on the crucial issue of funding and technical assistance for the emerging Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).

This position came out clearly, at the closing plenary, Saturday, of the third session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) for an International Legally Binding Instrument for Implementing International Action on Certain Persistent Organic Pollutants.

China, India and Gambia were among the countries who spoke on the issue, expressing frustration at the lack of progress on this front so far.

The negotiations are in response to a mandate from the General Council of the UN Environment Programme to reach an agreement in year 2000 on a treaty to reduce and/or eliminate 12 specific POPs and to establish scientific criteria and a process for identifying additional pollutants for future international action.

Two more negotiating sessions of the INC are planned - INC-4 at Bonn in March, 2000, followed by INC-5 in South Africa in the autumn of 2000.

A Diplomatic conference is scheduled to be held subsequently for adopting and signing of the POPs treaty - the first one to seek concerted global action to contain POPs. Sweden has offered to host that conference in the spring of year 2001.

China and India said at the close of the INC-3 that the technical and financial aspects of the POPs Convention should be 'fully discussed' before and be 'acceptable to everyone' and not be left for the very last minute at the Diplomatic conference.

"If left to languish until the very last minute, it would be detrimental to the Convention per se," the Chinese delegate pointed out.

"Progress on the technical and financial aspects have not been to the extent developing countries would have liked to see here," said the head of the Indian delegation. "We would have liked to come closer to the negotiation text. All that we have for now is that 4 different groups of countries have put forth their suggestions."

The delegate of Gambia pointed out that there should not be a repeat of what happened at the PIC (Prior Informed Consent) Procedure Convention (on trade in certain dangerous chemicals) - where the most crucial issue was left to be dealt with only towards the end.

It is recognized that industrialized countries will be in a strong position for responding to the treaty provisions. Many have already put in place extensive measures.

Developing countries and countries with economies in transition, on the other hand, often lack the means --both technical and financial.

"They will need, and the industrial world will need to provide, substantial support to enable full participation in and compliance with the future POPs treaty," noted Klaus Topfer, UNEP's Executive Director in his address to the conference last week.

"Financial assistance can be the deal-maker or the deal-breaker," said Clifton Curtis of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). "There's a chance to really make this treaty work, but it won't without significant, new financial assistance from the developed world."

The most notable success at the Geneva meeting was that 'the policy substance' of the Convention text had begun to 'crystallize,' said John Buccini of Canada (Chair of the INC-3) at a press conference Saturday.

Buccini said the tentative Convention text would now go back to governments for further consultations.

Headway was made in terms of classifying 10 of the 12 POPs which are intentionally (rpt intentionally) produced - in terms listing them either in annex 'a' or 'b' referring to prohibited or restricted lists.

A UNEP press release said that three of the 12 POPs - aldrin, endrin and toxaphene - are pesticides and are slated for elimination with no exemptions.

Another five - chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, mirex and hexachlorobenzene -- are set for elimination, but with country- specific exemptions.

Of these five, hexachlorbenzene is an industrial compound and also a by-product.

With the exception of exemptions, eliminations would take place once the treaty enters into force.

New use and production of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are to be prohibited, under policy proposals developed by negotiators. Discussion has focused on PCBs already in use - principally in electrical equipment - and related complexity of identifying existing applications and dealing with replacement costs, particularly in developing countries.

UNEP also said that there has been agreement on a procedure for adding chemicals to the convention. With a few remaining issues, there was also agreement on scientific criteria and data requirements for screening and evaluation.

There also appears to be a general agreement on the controversial issue of phasing out DDT - most certainly for its agricultural use - but retaining the possibility of its limited production and use to save human lives in the fight against malaria.

This means that countries may need to have stocks of DDT, the only one among the POPs that has a life-saving value (in addition to its harmful environmental and health effects), available to fight malaria until such time that alternatives are available to replace even such necessary health-related uses of DDT.

However, no time-frame has been discussed with regards to the phase out of DDT and it appears in both the annexes and is still under brackets.

But WWF maintains that negotiators in Geneva agreed to eliminate seven pesticides and one industrial compound, which "are the least produced and used."

The other four - DDT and by-products dioxins, PCBs and furans - are far more controversial.

Asked as to when the POPs treaty would actually start being implemented, Buccini said while it may take another three to four years before the Convention is ratified and comes into force, a number of countries were already taking measures to deal with POPs.

However, most of the initiatives taken are by developed countries which are already in the process of phasing out some of the intentionally produced POPs. But a number of transnational chemical companies have facilities in the developing countries.

Among the POPS, the dioxins and furans are POPS that affect all countries. They are unintended by-products of combustion and many industrial processes, including burning of garbage.

While the recent dioxin health care in Belgium alerted the whole world to the potential hazards, it also exposed the preparedness of the developed countries not just to test the presence of hazardous substances in food but also their capability to deal with them in time.

It is recognised that for developing countries to be able to come up to the same level of detection and reaction, it will take a lot of time, money and effort.

A controversial development at the INC-3 related to the exemptions being developed in the draft with respect to the production and use of some of the POPs. While there appears to be an agreement for research purpose, other justifications are being debated.

According to the international environment NGO, Greenpeace, the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea are 'promoting the increase and continued proliferation of dioxins in the planet.'

"The US and its allies should spend their efforts and resources in phasing out their own toxic pollution sources, and funding clean alternatives instead of polluting these negotiations," said Juan Lopez de Uralde of Greenpeace International.

"Now is the time to begin developing specific control measures and deadlines for the 12 POPs listed in the mandate," said Klaus Topfer, while addressing the conference earlier.

"From incinerators that release dioxins into the environment -- to contamination of the air, water, soil, wildlife, and food with pesticides and PCBs -- worrisome signs are growing, and the world is watching, and for good reason."

Decades worth of electrical equipment containing PCBs are aging, and in serious danger of leakage and accidents. Most are located in or near urban areas.

Dioxins and furans, unintended toxic by-products of many industrial and combustion processes, have been releases largely unmeasured and unchecked in most countries.

Obsolete and unwanted stocks of POPs pesticides often are poorly marked and stored, threatening to leak into water supplies and poison the air and land.

On the crucial issue of financial sources and mechanisms, Sweden plans to sponsor a workshop in January/February 2000. Recommendations from this workshop are to be presented at the next INC in March 2000 in Bonn.

This workshop is to bring in government experts from 40-50 countries, reflecting "regional balance", along with experts of international organizations, the private and non-governmental sectors.

However, all participants "will act in their personal capacity, with the workshop report reflecting their views as experts."

Sweden has selected the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), an environmental NGO, to serve as 'consultant/secretariat in coordinating and undertaking preparations for the workshop.

WWF International's global toxic programme is managed from its US chapter - WWF-US.