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NEWS RELEASE

Environment, Health, Agriculture Experts meet in
St. Petersburg to Discuss Alternatives to POPs Pesticides

NAIROBI/GENEVA, 10 July 2000 – Environment, health, and agriculture officials from countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as well as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will meet 11-14 July 2000 in St. Petersburg, Russia to discuss problems with pesticides that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs).  They will also explore alternatives for dealing with them.  Of particular concern is the re-emergence of malaria in the Caucasian and Central Asian region as a result of the deterioration of agricultural irrigation systems.  Countries will need assistance to develop effective strategies for malaria control that do not involve a return to reliance on DDT against malaria-bearing mosquitoes.

“Protecting the environment, safeguarding human health, and promoting effective agriculture practices go hand-in-hand.  This workshop signals the growing regional and worldwide recognition of the importance of sustainable practices while protecting public health,” said Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The workshop is being organized by UNEP Chemicals in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in the Hague, and the Centre for International Projects (CIP) in Moscow.  Participating CIS countries are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The main objectives of the workshop are to review current pesticide use, explore realistic alternative approaches to POPs pesticides in pest and vector management, and to identify more sustainable strategies using the principles of integrated pest management.

In addition, the agenda will include hands-on approaches leading to national action plans for reducing/eliminating POPs pesticides as well as lowering overall pesticide use.  A further objective will be to explore opportunities for collaboration between sectors to promote integrated pest and vector management.  From the WHO perspective, this and similar workshops provide an important contribution to the activities under the Roll Back Malaria initiative.

The POPs pesticides listed in the mandate from the UNEP Governing Council for the global POPs treaty now being negotiated are: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, hexachlorobenzene, and toxaphene.  The fifth and last round of negotiations will take place in South Africa 4-9 December 2000.

The St. Petersburg Sub-regional Expert Meeting comes within the framework of the UNEP/Russia Project on Strengthening National Chemicals Management in the CIS Countries.  CIP carries out this work in co-operation with the Russian Register of Potentially Hazardous Chemical and Biological Substances of the Ministry of Health and other national institutions.  CIP, ISNAR, WHO, and UNEP are funding the workshop, with additional resources coming from training and capacity building funds provided by the United States.

The meeting follows on a related workshop in Bangkok in March, which focused on POPs pesticides and alternative approaches for pest and vector management in Southeast Asian countries.

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Note to journalists: Additional data and documents are available on the Internet (www.chem.unep.ch./pops).  For follow-up or to arrange interviews, please contact: James B. Willis, Director, UNEP Chemicals, at tel:  (+41 22) 917 8183; fax: (+41 22) 797 34 60; e-mail: chemicals@unep.ch; or Linda Durkee, Policy and Communications Advisor, UNEP Chemicals, at tel: (+41 22) 917 95 11; fax: (+41 22) 797 34 60; email: ldurkee@unep.ch;

In Nairobi: Tore J. Brevik, UNEP Spokesman, on tel: +254-2-623292 or Robert Bisset, Office of the Spokesman/Media Unit, on 623084, fax: 623692, email: robert.bisset@unep.org

UNEP News Release 2000/87

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Note to journalists: Additional information is available via the Internet at www.chem.unep.ch/pops. For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact James B. Willis, Director, UNEP Chemicals, at tel. (+41 22) 917 81 83; fax (+41 22) 797 34 60; e-mail: chemicals@unep.ch; or Linda Durkee, Policy and Communications Advisor, UNEP Chemicals, at tel: (+41 22) 917 85 11; fax: (+41 22) 797 34 60; e-mail: ldurkee@unep.ch.

UNEP News Release 1999/