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Looking at legal frameworks to protect the Pacific region from toxic chemicals and hazardous wastes will be the priority for 14 Pacific island nations meeting in Cairns, Australia this week.

The main expectation is that the meeting will develop regional and national plans of action for implementing the conventions.

SPREP views this workshop as a great opportunity to really identify what the needs are for Pacific island countries in implementing the Basel, Waigani, Rotterdam and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) conventions.

SPREP's Waste Management and Pollution Prevention Coordinator, Bruce Graham, says, "Positive discussions and action need to be made soon to protect the Pacific's environmental future.

"We want to map out the reasons why countries should consider ratifying these conventions, as well as provide a clear understanding of the resource implications; then ask what kind of support the island states need to implement the conventions."

Delegates from the Cook Islands; Federated States of Micronesia; Fiji; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Nauru; Niue; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu and Vanuatu will discuss their positions on these conventions.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and SPREP are supporting the workshop and both organisations are keen to pass on the message that commitment to the conventions spells good news for the Pacific. These conventions target the manufacture, storage, transport, recycling-recovery and disposal of toxic chemicals, both in the Pacific and around the world.

SPREP's Environmental Law Officer, Jacques Mougeot says, "The Basel and Waigani Conventions provide a legal framework that will be instrumental in cleaning the Pacific region from toxic chemicals and other hazardous wastes through their proper management and disposal".

The agenda of the meeting will also discuss a Prior Informed Consent Procedure/Rotterdam Convention, which allows countries to ban the importation of certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides.

Source: South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)

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