Building on its commitments as a party to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions as well as the Minamata Convention, Peru is launching a project to strengthen the country’s capacity to better manage chemicals.
The South American country has already made headway in protecting public health and the environment through improved chemicals management, including its draft law on sound management of chemicals, set to be reviewed by its Congress.
However, a law on its own would be ineffective without mechanisms to implement and enforce it, and to educate stakeholders and the general public about the sound management of chemicals and waste. The project, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) Special Programme on Chemicals and Waste, will address these key needs.
The project will begin with the design and implementation of a National Registry of Chemical Substances and development of technical and legal capacities for the implementation of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). This will strengthen and standardize the classification and communication of dangers of chemicals placed in the market.
The registry will include information on chemical products regulated by the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and the Minamata Convention. Easy access to such information will allow for improved decision-making to manage the risks associated with chemicals.
Currently, Peru lacks an inventory of chemical products manufactured and imported into the country. These include potentially harmful pesticides, disinfectants, and other chemical substances for domestic, industrial, and public health use.
In 2019, there was an 89 per cent increase in accidents associated with the inappropriate use of chemicals in the occupational field compared to 2018, indicating the public’s vulnerability due to insufficient information on harmful chemical substances. This problem has been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as people have resorted to inappropriately sanitizing surfaces using potentially hazardous substances
In tandem with the registry of chemicals, guidelines will be developed to carry out a risk assessment and to set up specific measures to reduce and manage risks of chemical substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, or hazardous to the environment. These guidelines will be shared with technical personnel of public and private institutions through a regional Risk Challenge Workshop to include an introduction to toxicology and the use of web tools to carry out risk assessments.
Such training is crucial to educating stakeholders across sectors about the importance of chemicals management.
Yet safeguarding people’s health through improved chemicals management isn’t just the government’s job, or that of those in certain key positions—it’s everyone’s. Recognizing this, the project also envisages the development of a communications plan to sensitize various audiences about provisions included in the proposed Law on the Sound Management of Chemicals.
The plan will outline multiple strategies, including digital campaigns, to increase awareness about harmful chemicals and poor chemical management practices.
These campaigns have the power to influence positive behavioral change to promote the safe use of chemicals in the public and private sectors and among the general population.
Through its many facets, the project aims to accelerate Peru toward its goal of protecting public and environmental health through sound chemicals management to benefit people, nature and climate for years to come.
For further information, please contact the Special Programme Secretariat at unepchemicalsspecialprogramme@un.org
