Third session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety - Final report

At its first meeting in Stockholm in 1994, the Forum adopted recommendations on some 40 Priorities for Action. Six years later considerable progress has been made towards these goals while new challenges have appeared. Forum III considered and adopted new Priorities for Action beyond 2000. The new Priorities update objectives in earlier areas of work and set goals in several new areas. The include targets relating to:

• data on inherent hazards in geographical areas other than temperate climatic regions;

• ensuring that relevant hazard data become available in the shortest possible time;

• ensuring that information on hazards related to export of hazardous chemicals is

available;

• management of stocks of pesticides and other chemicals which are no longer in use;

• global measures against persistent organic pollutants;

• poisonings of users of toxic pesticides;

• national plans of action to address hazardous chemicals;

• taking action against illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products; and

• promoting assistance to enable all countries to work in all of the Forum's programme

areas.