Dubai, United Arab Emirates
4-6 February 2006

Over 800 participants from 170 countries, including governments, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and others convened for this first session. The conference was held within the framework of the Preparatory Committee for the development of a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), which had the objective to achieve the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle so that, by 2020, chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimization of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment. The strategic Approach was embodied in a high-level declaration, an overarching policy strategy and global plan of action.

The main content of the High-Level Declaration (HLD) includes:

• Sound chemicals management for getting rid of poverty and disease, and the improvement of human health and the environment;
• Management of chemical safety for developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to lessen the dependency on pesticides in agriculture and exposure of workers to harmful chemicals, and thus helping to lower concerns about the long-term effects of chemicals on both human health and the environment;
• Recognizing that because global production, trade and use of chemicals are increasing, with growth patterns placing an increasing chemicals management burden on developing countries and countries with economies in transition, in particular the least developed among them and small island developing States, and presenting them with special difficulties in meeting this challenge, fundamental changes are needed in the way that societies manage chemicals;
• Determination to protect children, including unborn children, from chemical exposures;
• Prevention of illegal traffic in toxic, hazardous, banned and severely restricted chemicals and chemical products and wastes; and
• The Strategic Approach is non-legally binding and therefore does not change rights and obligations under legally-binding international agreements.

The Overarching Policy Strategy (OPS):

• The involvement of all relevant sectors and stakeholders, including at the local, national, regional and global levels, is key to achieving the objectives of the Strategic Approach, as is a transparent and open implementation process and public participation in decision making, featuring in particular a strengthened role for women.
• The Strategic Approach is not limited to: environmental, economic, social, health and labour aspects of chemical safety; or agricultural and industrial chemicals, with a view to promoting sustainable development and covering chemicals at all stages of their life cycle, including in products; and does not cover products regulated by a domestic food or pharmaceutical authority or arrangement.
• The objectives of the Strategic Approach are: to reduce risk; to strengthen knowledge and information; to strengthen institutions, laws and policy or governance; to enhance capacity-building and technical cooperation; and to address illegal international traffic.
• The Overarching Policy Strategy also mentions financial considerations; principles and approaches; and implementation and taking stock of progress.

The Global Plan of Action (GPoA):
Serves as guidance to all stakeholders at the global, regional, national and local levels, including for assessment of the current status of their actions in support of the sound management of chemicals and identifying priorities to address gaps in such management.
In developing and implementing SAICM and the GPoA, governments and other stakeholders should be guided by the Stockholm Declaration, Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, United Nations Millennium Declaration, Bahia Declaration on Chemical Safety, Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, Montreal Protocol, Basel Convention, Rotterdam Convention, Stockholm Convention and ILO Convention. The GPA consists of work areas, activities, actors, targets/timeframes, and indicators of progress and implementation aspects.

Since the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 were adopted, much has been done to improve chemicals management and many countries are active and well-informed about public interest movements promoting awareness and good practices with regards to chemicals, but there is recognition that: the existing international policy framework for chemicals is not completely adequate and needs to be further strengthened; there is an unevenness of implementation of established international policies; the incompleteness of coherence and synergies between existing institutions and processes should be further improved; there is often limited or no information on many chemicals currently in use and often limited or no access to information that already exists; many countries lack the capacity to manage chemicals soundly at the national, sub-regional, regional and global levels; and there are inadequate resources available to address chemical safety issues in many countries, particularly to bridge the widening gap between developed countries on the one hand and developing countries and countries with economies in transition on the other.

The meeting also discussed the hosting of the Information Exchange Network on Capacity-building for the Sound Management of Chemicals (INFOCAP), which had numerous forums on chemicals management and had been considered an essential and highly adaptable tool. The committee recommended that the Strategic Approach secretariat initiate discussions on the possible transfer of INFOCAP for administration by the SAICM secretariat.

For more detailed information on ICCM1, please visit: http://www.saicm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=483.

Geneva, Switzerland
11-15 May 2009

Over 100 countries, including governments, intergovernmental organizations (such as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, European Commission, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety, Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, World Bank Group, World Health Organization, World Trade Organization), non-governmental organizations and others, convened for this second session.

The meeting deliberated on the following:

A: Adoption of the rules of procedure of the Preparatory Committee for the Development of SAICM.

B: Implementation of SAICM:

• Evaluation of, and guidance on, implementation, review and update of SAICM
  • Procedure for updating the GPoA;
  • Regional activities and coordination;
  • Guidance on developing SAICM implementation plans.
• Implementation of, and coherence among, international instruments and programmes (to synergize with Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions);
• Modalities for reporting by stakeholders on progress in implementation;
• Strengthening national chemicals management capacities
  The strategies include:
  • Strengthening capacities for engagement;
  • Increasing capacities to generate, access and use information and knowledge;
  • Enhancing capacities for policy and legislation development;
  • Strengthening capacities for programme development;
  • Strengthening capacities for management and implementation;
  • Increasing capacities to monitor and evaluate;
  • Improving capacities to mobilize resources.
• Financial and technical resources for implementation
• Emerging policy issues included:
  
  • Nanotechnology and manufactured nanomaterials, with the aim to understand the effect of nanoparticles to human health and ecological risks;
  • Chemicals in products, with the aim to provide suitable information on chemicals in products to countries;
  • Electronic waste, with the aim to reduce the quantities of hazardous chemicals used in the manufacture of electronic appliances by changing designs and finding safer alternatives and there was a need for more cooperation and information exchange between developed and developing countries.
  • Lead in paint, with the main issue of the toxicity of lead in paint (including other products such as batteries, cosmetics and electronic goods) to human health and environment especially in developing countries;
  • Omnibus resolution;
  • Perfluorinated chemicals, with the aim to manage perfluorinated chemicals and the transition to safer alternatives.
  • Institutional arrangements for future work on emerging policy issues, with a plan to establish an open-ended working group;
  • Future procedure for the nomination, reviewing and prioritization of emerging policy issues, with a plan to refer the issue to the contact group established to discuss emerging policy issues.
• Information exchange and scientific and technical cooperation.

C: Cooperation with intergovernmental organizations

• Inter Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC);
• Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD);
• World Health Organization (WHO);
• Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS).

For more detailed information on ICCM2, please visit: http://www.saicm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81&Itemid=484.

Nairobi, Kenya
17-21 September 2012

Over 400 delegates, representing 122 governments, 19 international organizations, and 79 non-governmental organizations and industry participated in the Conference.

The meeting deliberated on the following:

A. Implementation of SAICM

• Evaluation of, and guidance on, implementation and review and update of SAICM
  
  • Evaluation and progress in implementation of SAICM
  • Addition of activities to the GPoA
• Implementation of, and coherence among, international instruments and programmes
• Strengthening of national chemicals management capacities
• Financial and technical resources for implementation
• Emerging policy issues, including:
  
  • lead in paint
  • chemicals in products
  • hazardous substances within the life cycle of electrical and electronic products
  • nanotechnology and manufactured nanomaterials
  • endocrine disrupting chemicals
• New nominations for emerging policy issues
• Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs)
  
  • Environmentally persistent pharmaceutical pollutants
  • Managing perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) and the transition to safer alternatives
• Information exchange and scientific and technical cooperation

B. Health sector strategy

• focusing on a "Strategy to strengthen the engagement of the health sector in the implementation of SAICM"

C. Cooperation with intergovernmental organizations (IGOs)

• Reporting the information on cooperation with IGOs

D. Activities of the secretariat and adoption of the budget

• The Secretariat staffing structure
• The indicative budget for 2013-2015

The Conference adopted 9 resolutions, including on the budget of the Secretariat, and emerging policy issues, such as chemicals in products, lead in paint, as well as EDCs. A resolution on highly hazardous pesticides was proposed in plenary, but was not adopted.

For more detailed information on ICCM3, please visit: http://www.saicm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96&Itemid=596.