COUNTRIES NEED to develop mechanisms to monitor the trade of hazardous chemicals and pesticides, according to a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) official.
Dr. Dunstan Campbell, FAO representative in Jamaica, said: "Without appropriate mechanisms, countries won't be able to make informed decisions on how to monitor trade."
Dr. Campbell was speaking Wednesday during the opening ceremony of a workshop at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, to reduce the effects of hazardous chemicals on humans and the environment.
The consultation was to discuss the implementation of a National Plan of Action for the Rotterdam Convention. The Rotterdam Convention, which Jamaica has been a part of since 2002, is a multilateral agreement designed to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among parties involved in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals. This in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm.
PROTECTING HUMAN HEALTH
Dr. Campbell said that while the convention does not prevent trade in hazardous chemicals, it seeks to control it.
Dr. Lucette Cargill, chief Government chemist at the Government Chemist Laboratory, said: "I think with this mechanism, we can exert our best efforts in protecting human health and the environment."
She said that at least 1,500 new chemicals are created yearly, and the effects are often unknown.
She explained that Jamaica would benefit from the convention in that information exchange with relevant authorities on the matter, would give the country a rational basis for decisions it makes in its best interest.
