Belarus

Establish a sustainable national infrastructure to join and support the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention in the Republic of Belarus

                       Building Blocks of Safety: Belarus' Success in Chemicals and Waste Governance

The Challenge

Belarus, a landlocked country, found it increasingly difficult to regulate the hazardous chemicals and waste going in and out of its borders. Challenges included a lack of expertise in chemicals and waste management, a national chemical/waste database, and a dedicated unit for these purposes. This left the people of Belarus in a vulnerable position to the effects of poorly regulated chemicals and waste.

The Project

In 2018, the government of Belarus partnered with the UNEP to significantly improve its management of chemicals and waste. A major step toward this goal was to prepare the country to join and implement the Rotterdam Convention. To accomplish this, the partnership focused on creating a national database of chemicals and pesticides, the development of expertise in the field, and the establishment of a dedicated unit to oversee these activities. The project was ultimately putting the health of the Belarusian people at the fore of the national development agenda.

The Impact

In February 2024, the law for accession of the Rotterdam Convention was signed. To get to this point, within three years of first partnering with the UNEP in 2018, Belarus went from having no registry of chemicals to having one with comprehensive information on 74 different chemicals. The project also created a database of chemicals’ manufacturers in the country, including 13 enterprises. This was a crucial step in strengthening Belarus’ ability to track the chemicals going in and out of the country.

The project was also instrumental in bringing together national experts across multiple ministries and agencies on the sound management of chemicals. The experts have gone on to train people and institutions dealing with hazardous chemicals. These include agricultural specialists, private businesses handling consumer goods, specialists in the paint and varnish industry, and students studying toxicology and other related subjects. Another milestone was the creation of an educational curriculum on the sound management of chemicals, which has been offered to different audiences including, government officials, academia, and the business sector. 

The gap in coordination has shrunk over the years, with multiple stakeholders in regular and structured communication now. Thanks to this strengthened coordination and other noted achievements, the project moved forward and succeeded in integrating the Rotterdam Convention into national legislation.

Independent Assessment of the Closed Project under the Special Programme Report (December 2022): Belarus

Project Story

2018 - Belarus builds infrastructure to effectively manage chemicals