CHEMICALS Management and environment protection stakeholders have called for the introduction of tough regulations aimed at safeguarding the country against the effects of hazardous chemicals that impact negatively on people's health and the environment at large.
The stakeholders gave the call over the weekend when they met to, among other things, discuss and come up with recommendations on how best the laws, rules and regulations can be improved and consolidated for better public health and environmental protection.
Speaking during the meeting, the Chief Government Chemist, Dr Fidelice Mafumiko, called upon the stakeholders to give their views on areas they thought needed improvement to give them more power for better control of hazardous chemicals and the environment.
"We need to improve some regulations so that they take tough actions for controlling chemical businesses that had adverse effects on health and the environment.
Particular attention, he said, should be on the ones that were not listed in the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade" said the Chief Government Chemist.
Dr Mafumiko said the Rotterdam Convention listed chemicals and pesticides which were controlled, and which a given country had the mandate to decide which should be imported and vice versa.
"Implementation of the Rotterdam Convention have been drawn on grounds of awareness and public knowledge on international trade as far as chemical and pesticides are concerned among member countries," he said.
However, he said, some chemicals and pesticides had been submitted for listing in the convention in vain, as some of the members denied access on for a number of reasons, including business interests.
Following the trend, during a recent meeting that involved Africa's stakeholders, it was decided in the case of some chemicals being rejected for listing, alternative means be sought to take care of the environment and health.
Stakeholders agreed that the existing laws and regulations were still strong enough to control and monitor chemical management, especially those which were not listed under the Rotterdam Convention.
However, the stakeholders insisted on strict control measures and chemical management, especially in the area of registration and inspection, by having in place special guidelines on timely information on availability of the said chemicals.
