Though often called “the blue-eyed country” because of its 20,000 plus rivers, Belarus is equally green, with nearly one-third of its landscape covered in large swaths of pristine forests. Protecting these natural resources and its 9.5 million residents from the threat of hazardous chemicals has long been a top priority for the government of Belarus.
The country is a party to the Basel and Stockholm Conventions, and will soon ratify the Rotterdam Convention, protective UN instruments that deal with key aspects of chemicals and waste management.
Belarus is launching a 27-month project, supported by the Chemicals and Waste Management Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), to adhere to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS is an internationally agreed-upon standard managed by the UN that was devised to replace the varied classification and labelling methods for hazardous materials used around the world.
Enacting urgent change
Belarus’ implementation of the GHS is urgently needed. The country currently has many different classifications of chemical substances, which means that some hazardous materials are incorrectly labelled. Given that Belarus is a producer, importer and exporter of hazardous chemicals, the delay in adopting the GHS poses a danger to both Belarus and other countries.
This initiative will be led by a Project Coordination Council, whose members will include key governmental authorities in chemicals management and stakeholders in agriculture, transport, trade and other sectors involved in the production, import and export of chemicals.
The council’s first objective is developing a national profile on Belarus’ capacities and practices for classifying and labelling chemicals. It will collect baseline data and information on the existing national system for the classification of chemicals, major laboratories’ capacities for identifying the hazardous properties of products, and those responsible for classifying and transmitting information on chemicals.
In addition to shedding light on the gaps in Belarus’ classification and labelling of chemicals, the national profile will also be leveraged to develop the country’s national strategy for implementing the GHS. Comprehensive and holistic, the strategy will detail actions to be taken by the government, commercial and industrial enterprises, and non-governmental organizations.
Strengthening stakeholder capacities
As part of the project, the council will also work to strengthen the capacities of all stakeholders responsible for ensuring the sustainable implementation of the GHS. This will be accomplished through developing and providing three training modules containing information on chemicals classification and labelling in accordance with GHS recommendations.
Increasing the public’s awareness about the management of chemicals is another key project goal. To start its awareness-raising efforts, the council will first work with women, since they are disproportionately affected by chemicals and wastes, often due to gender-determined occupational roles. Women will receive awareness-raising materials through annual exhibitions and forums.
Secondly, the council will provide university students studying medical, biological and chemical specialities with resources through their institutions.
Once the national strategy is in place and capacity building and awareness-raising efforts are underway, the council will lead the development of the regulatory legal act for the implementation of the GHS. The act’s passage will demonstrate the value of UNEP’s work and serve as another strong showing of Belarus’ pledge to safeguard both environmental and public health through the sound management of chemicals.
For further information, please contact the Special Programme Secretariat at unepchemicalsspecialprogramme@un.org
