Large industry presence at second meeting of the Intersessional Process for Considering SAICM
ICCA (colleagues from CEFIC, ACC, Abiquim and some member companies Dow, Exxon Mobil and BASF) and representatives from broader industry stakeholders including USCIB, Croplife International, ICTA, Pfizer, Boeing and Mining and Minerals industry attended the second Meeting of the Intersessional Process for Considering SAICM and the Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste Beyond 2020 earlier this month. The meeting, held in Stockholm from 13-15 March, gathered some 360 delegates. Despite the large industry presence at the event, there is still a need for broader participation from downstream industry, including plastics and waste as well as from ICCA representatives from other regions, particularly Asia and Africa.
The meeting was co-chaired by Brazil and Canada and driven by stakeholder input on elements of a possible future framework on chemicals and waste including: vision, policy principles, measurable objectives and milestones, ideas and concepts related to implementation and governance. These topics were discussed in a plenary setting as well as in smaller breakout groups, where our industry representative from Dow Chemicals was co-chairing a session on governance.
In addition, a preliminary report on results of the independent evaluation of SAICM and suggested improvements was presented and once finalized will be forwarded to the SAICM Open-ended Working Group (OEWG-3) planned for February 2019. Based on the exchange of views since the first intersessional meeting held in Brazilia, the co-chairs will now develop a ‘zero-draft’ paper containing draft resolutions that will form the basis of the negotiations in February 2019 during the OEWG. ICCA will feed into the above process by providing comments on the breakout session summaries and the draft evaluation report. The outcomes and next steps were also discussed at the CP&H LG meeting held in New Orleans earlier this week.
Prior to the meeting, ICCA Council Secretary, Marco Mensink took part in a separate, high-level dialogue organized by the Swedish government. The dialogue, on the future new chemicals and waste global framework, aims to start building a coalition of like-minded stakeholders to address sound management of chemicals and waste. An article on the proposed way forward is currently being drafted by the Swedish government and industry is following it closely.