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Fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (PIC COP-4) 27-31 October 2008 | Rome, Italy   Highlights for Thursday, 30 October 2008   The High-level segment of the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 4) of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade started on Thursday, with statements by ministers and high-level authorities. In the afternoon, closed ministerial panel discussions were held on the theme: “Sound chemicals management: relieving the burden on public health.” Plenary met in the evening and adopted decisions on technical assistance and cooperation with the World Trade Organization (WTO). Contact groups on compliance, budget and implementation continued to meet throughout the day and evening. Above photo: Group photo with Ministers attending the PIC COP 4 High-Level Segment.

PLENARY:

HIGH LEVEL SEGMENT:

Above photo L-R: Dais during the High-Level Segment with Peter Kenmore, Co-Executive Secretary  of the Rotterdam Convention (FAO); Modibo Tiémoko Traoré, Assistant Director-General, FAO; James Butler, Deputy Director-General, FAO; PIC COP 4 President Andrea Repetti; Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Donald Cooper, Co-Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention (UNEP); and Maria Neira, Director, Department of Public Health and Environment, World Health Organization (WHO).

PIC COP 4 President Andrea Repetti   Donald Cooper, Co-Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention.

James Butler, FAO Deputy Director-General, noted the impacts of the food crisis and climate change on the use of chemicals, and called for greater cooperation between different ministries.   Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, underscored the importance of synergies and the different mechanisms available to further the sound management of chemicals.   Maria Neira, Director, Public Health and Environment, WHO, stressed the Convention can only support public health if chemicals are included in its Annex and that protecting human health must come before trade.

MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS:

Paolo Ducci, Directorate General for Economic and Multilateral Financial Cooperation, Italy.   Aram Harutyunyan, Minister of Nature Protection, Armenia.   Maznah Binti Mazlan, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Malaysia.   Mohammed Ould Ahmed Salem, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development,  Mauritania.

Raúl Vidable, Undersecretary for Environmental Control, Argentina.   Tiatia Faumuina Liuga, Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Samoa   P. Avocksouma Djona Atchenemou, Minister of Public Health, Chad   Laurent Stefanini, Environment Ambassador to the EU, France

MINISTERIAL PANEL DISCUSSIONS:

Above photos: Panel discussions facilitated by Osmany Pereira, Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention and Franz Perrez, Switzerland.

Above photos: Panel discussions facilitated by Bakary Kante, UNEP.

Above photos: Panel discussions facilitated by Osvaldo Alvarez, Chile.

CONTACT GROUPS: Contact groups on compliance, implementation and budget met throughout the day and into the night.

COMPLIANCE:

Denis Langlois, Chair of the contact group on Compliance with Masa Nagai, Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention.   Delegates from the EU in consultation during the contact group session on compliance.

BUDGET:

L-R: Budget contact group Co-Chairs Ositadinma Anaedu, NIgeria and  Paul Garnier, Switzerland with Donald Cooper, Co-Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention (UNEP).   Budget contact group session.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Compliance contact group Chair Denis Langlois, Canada in discussion with implementation contact group Co-Chairs Kateřina Šebková, Czech Republic, and Siti Ibrahim, Malaysia.     Delegates from China consulting during the contact group session on implementation.

ENB SNAPSHOTS:

MINISTERIAL BRIEFING:

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Related Links Rotterdam Convention (PIC) PIC COP-4 Documents Annotated Agenda Scenario Note UNEP Chemicals UNEP - Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) International Organization for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) International Programme on Chemical Safety UNITAR Chemicals and Waste Management Programme Stockholm Convention (POPs) Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety Basel Convention Links to IISD RS Resources IISD RS coverage of the PIC COP-3, 9-13 October 2006, Geneva, Switzerland IISD RS coverage of the PIC COP-2, 27-30 September 2005, Rome, Italy IISD RS coverage of the PIC COP-1, 20-24 September 2004, Geneva, Switzerland  IISD RS coverage of the OEWG-2 to Review and Assess Measures to Address the Global Issues on Mercury, 6-10 October 2008, Nairobi, Kenya IISD RS coverage of the OELTWG of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM), 21-24 October 2008, Rome, Italy IISD RS coverage of meetings on Chemicals Management  Chemicals-L - A mailing list for news on chemicals policy issues Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats CLIMATE-L - News and information on the actions of international organizations in responding to the problem of global climate change

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