PENANG DECLARATION ON POPs
We, the participants from countries in the Asia-Pacific
region to the International Symposium on PCBs (polychlorinated
biphenyls) express here our concern about the continuing
presence of POPs in our environment and their harmful effects
on human and animal health.
"POPs" is the term used to represent the twelve
persistent organic pollutants identified in the Stockholm
Convention. They include the industrial chemicals known as
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and the pesticides HCB (hexachlorobenzene),
endrin, mirex, toxaphene, DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane
and heptachlor. The industrial by-products dioxins and furans
are also listed as POPs.
POPs are considered among the most dangerous of life threatening
substances created by humans. They pollute the food chain
and are present as contaminants in wildlife and humans at
levels thousand of times higher than the surrounding air,
water, and soil. Many studies have shown that POPs are capable
of disrupting the endocrine system and are associated with
reproductive failure, immune system disorders, behaviour
and learning disorders, and cancers.
We have voiced our concerns on various issues and problems
associated with POPs. As a result, we call on our governments
and all stakeholders to take the following actions:
- acknowledgment by government, industry and agriculture
that the only way to prevent releases of POPs into the
environment is to avoid their production and use.
- ratification of the Stockholm Convention on POPs by all
governments in the Asia-Pacific region and the introduction
of laws and education to achieve its objectives.
- phase out of the production and use of all POPs and the
cessation of those human activities that lead to their
generation. The phase-out must be undertaken at national
and ultimately at global level.
- elimination of all POPs discharges, emissions, and losses
to the environment and the remediation on POPs contaminated
land and water.
- substitution of POPs with non-hazardous products and
services through the adoption of "clean production" technologies
and manufacturing processes by all industrial and agricultural
sectors.
- implementation of the Precautionary Principle and
acceptance of the premise that all synthetic chemicals
are hazardous until shown to be otherwise.
- The establishment of scientifically robust criteria and
practical and transparent procedures for identifying new
POPs beyond the original twelve targeted for the global
action.
With respect to the management and destruction of POPs,
we call on our government to enact laws and provide education
that supports the following actions:
- Identification and collection of POPs: and
products containing POPs: The identification and collection
of POPs and products containing POPs must be complemented
by consultation and education about their risks to health
and the environment. These four activities must be accepted
as the first step in the POPs management and destruction
program. Such a program must include practical measures
to prevent damage to human health and the environment that
may result from the ongoing use of products containing
POPs through an accident, leak, spill, fire, explosion,
or natural disaster.
- Secure Storage: Secure storage is defined
as a place where segregated waste streams are stored in
purpose built/adapted facilities which incorporate high
security measures, the ability to monitor and retrieve
chemicals, zero emissions to water, soil, and atmosphere,
rigorous and routine inspections and reporting, and an
emergency response program. Storage facilities must be
sited and designed with a view to facilitate the destruction
of the stored wastes in the future. Communities living
near dedicated storage facilities must be consulted and
kept informed of any issues by regular reporting.
- Landfill: Best practice landfill management
must be adopted.
- Destruction:
- Best Available Destruction Technologies
with Preference for Closed Loop Systems: POPs
must not, under any circumstances be allowed to
be dispersed into the environment through direct
dumping or destruction using inadequate disposal
technologies. Technologies used must avoid the
formation and release of hazardous chemicals into
the environment, e.g. closed loop systems.
- On-Site Treatment: Mobile destruction
systems, which can be transported to a POPs storage
site or contaminated sites, must be removed upon
completion of the designated destruction process.
They should not remain on site where they could become
a dedicated facility for the disposal of other POPs
waste streams.
Responsibility and Accountability: Governments,
POPs producers and those manufacturers that create products
that use POPs, must take legal responsibility for the cost
of the identification, collection, storage, and disposal
of POPs and products containing POPs.
Community Right-to-Know: Full and transparent
access to information on all aspects of management and destruction
programs must be made freely and easily available to the
public. This includes access to information relating to the
current situation of identification, collection and monitoring
data at storage and destruction sites, technologies used
and the alternatives considered.
THEREFORE, with one voice, we collectively agree and support this declaration.
Dated this 25th February 2003 in Penang, Malaysia
|