16. Legislation and Regulations in Syria about POPs

by Mr. S. Ghazalah

 

In the last two decades, Syria witnessed a remarkable agriculture and industrial progress accompanied with an environmental deterioration as a result for using the agriculture pesticides and some dangerous chemical substances. Therefore a legislative resolution No. 11 was issued on 21 August 1991, which imposes a forming of the Higher Council for the Environmental Safety which consists of twelve ministries related to the environment (Public Heath, Industry, Environment, Agriculture, Irrigation, Local Administrate, Electricity, Transport Advertising, Planning, Petroleum, Utilities and Housing) in addition to the General Commission for die Environmental Affairs.

In 1994 three environmental directorates were established in the northern, coastal, and the middle areas in Syria which submit to the Strengthening the Environmental Capacities Project credited by the World Bank.

Two others directorates were opened in 1997 in the Southern, Western and serial directorates will be found in every Syrian governorate to support the Environment protection.

The bill of Environment protection was legislated in Syria and it is under accomplishment.

There aren't any productions of POPs in Syria.

There aren't specialized regulations for persistent organic pollutants in Syria but they are classified under the chemical compounds and pesticides.

Chemical compounds importing regulations:

1.Public Health Ministry issued the Resolution No.40 in 1949 which banns importing chemical compounds without a prior permission of a specialized committee.

2.The Environment Ministry formed a chemical safety committee from the whole ministries and scientific sides, it's duties are:

Schedules the dangerous wastes in Syria.

Prepares the studies to dispose the wastes by an environmental safety manner.

The Ministry of Environment has formed a technical team supplied with Mobile laboratory, its duty is auditing of industrial environment for all factories and facilities and the work began on the first of April and through that the information on PCBs - Dioxin - Furans compounds will be collected.

 

Pesticides Importing Regulations:

  1. Public Sanitary Pesticides:

The Local Administrate and the Public Health Ministries are importing the pesticides after taking the acceptance from a specialized committee in the Public Health Ministry.

2. Agriculture Pesticides:

· The Agriculture Ministry issued the resolution No.10 on 10th of April 1990 which banns the thirty-three kind of pesticides from importing, dealing, And using because they are considered dangerous on human health and animals. They are shown in table No. (1).

· Regulates the process of importing the pesticides in Syria:

1.Registering the pesticides

Entering and dealing with the blight pesticides is banned in Syria unless it's registered in the ministry of Agriculture, and that means the procedure of selecting the pesticide under the local circumstances for two years before permitting the entering and dealing.

The conditions of registering:

a. The pesticide must be registered and used in the source country in case of the absence of the blight, it must be registered and used in two other developed countries.

The developed country should have an integrated system for poison tests and the effects of the pesticide on health, Environment and agriculture.

b. The pesticide shouldn't be one of the international prevented or prohibited substances.

2. Canceling the registering or the pesticide:

- If the pesticide was unhealthy.

- If it's banned in the source country or in two other developed countries.

- If it's banned by a resolution issued by any international organization.

*Even though the export and trade of the Agriculture pesticides is limited to the Agriculture engineers.

*The Syrian Arab Republic is one of the leaders in the IPM.

Which applied on the crops of the cotton, citrus fruits, olive, and forests, and currently a lot of experiments are being applied on apple and grape trees in some Syrian regions.

*There are about 325 tonnes of pesticides will be deteriorated with the cooperation between Syria and FAO to find necessary finance to dispose this quantities by safety manner.

*The Syrian Arab Republic has joined in Basel and PIC agreements and cooperated with the international organization.

*The unlegal trade of the dangerous chemical substances and wastes is considered as an offence, which is punishable by law.

 

Table - 1-

Banned Pesticides

No.: Name Banned from No.: Name Banned from
1 Aldi Card Granulate 18 Endrin EC-WP-D-G
2 H-H-D-N EC-EW-G-P oil 19 EPN EC-WP-D-G
3 Arsenic Compounds All Forms 20 Heptachlor EC-WP-D-oils
4 B-H-C Hexa Chlorobenzene EC-WP-C 21 Leptophos EC-WP-D-oils
5 Cadmium Compounds All Forms 22 Oxamyle EC
6 Cyanide Compounds

--

 23 Paraquat G-WC
7 Carbofuran (F.L) flowable 24 FenoMiphos EC
8 Chlordan EC-WP-D-G 25 Fenofos EC
9 Cyano Fenophos EC 26 Protoate EC
10 Cyhexatin All Forms 27 2/4/5-T EC-WSC
11 DDT Compounds -- 28 Bromoxynil All Forms
12 Diazion -- 29 Daminozid --
13 Dicofol -- 30 ParthionEthyl --
14 Dibromo Chloro Propane EC-SP 31 Mercuric Compounds All Form
15 Dieldrin EC-WP-D-G 32 Flurine Compounds --
16 Dinosem All Forms 33 Dioxin Compounds --
17 Endosulfan EC-WP-D-G