The number and nature of chemicals which can be included in the scheme will be determined by the resources available. The following options are suggested as potential starting points.
Limited resources
Chemicals banned or restricted with risk assessments available from international organisations1 or with other relevant assessments, e.g. risk profile from the Stockholm Convention2. Chemicals identified as national priority if a risk assessment is available or a donor supports the risk assessment with external expertise. National priorites could be determined, for example, on a hazard basis and/or by considering exposure potential.
Medium resources
As for low resources, plus:
Chemicals banned and restricted in other countries based upon published risk assessments if the chemicals are known to be present in the country, for example, from an information request to industry or through an export notification received under the Rotterdam Convention3. Chemicals proposed for listing4 under the Stockholm Convention2 with a risk profile/risk assessment.
High resources
As for medium resources, plus:
All chemicals identified as candidates for risk reduction measures.
1 – OECD Substitution and Alternatives Assessment Toolbox (www.OECDSAAToolbox.org ) page on restriction lists in different jurisdictions (including the convention lists): http://www.oecdsaatoolbox.org/Home/Regulations
A Roadmap to National and Regional Programmes’ work on Chemicals Assessment eChemPortal schedules of assessments
2 – The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment. An overview of the Convention is available at Stockholm Convention overview . A list of current POPS is at Stockholm Convention POPs list .
3 - The objectives of the Rotterdam Convention are:
- to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm;
- to contribute to the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals, by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by disseminating these decisions to Parties.
An overview of the Convention is available at Rotterdam Convention overview .
A list of substances included in the Convention is at Rotterdam Convention substance list .
4 – A list of substances proposed for listing under the Stockholm Convention is at Stockholm Convention proposed chemicals .