Opening Statement

by Dr. Marta Ciraj

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to welcome you on behalf of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia and the Department for Health Ecology responsible for the care for a sound environment, and on my own behalf, to the sub-regional workshop on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which is taking place from Monday morning to Thursday noon at the Lek Hotel in Kranjska Gora.

Ms. Dunja Piškur-Kosma, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, wanted to welcome you herself, but she is unfortunately absent because of her obligation to be present at the General Assembly of the WHO in Geneva which is in session these days, so she asked me, dear Ladies and Gentlemen, to read to you her thoughts and wishes on the occasion of this doubtlessly important event for Slovenia.

But before I do this, I would like to express my great satisfaction at bringing to realization such a workshop involving the Central and East European countries. The possibility of having it in Republic of Slovenia had been discussed for quite some time, but serious preparations for its implementation started when we talked about it with Mr. Shkolenok from the United Nations Environmental Program - UNEP - Regional Office for Europe in Geneva in Bratislava during a very interesting workshop on risk assessment which was held in November 1997.

The Ministry of Health immediately initiated the procedure which ended in the approval of the workshop by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.

UNEP, assisted by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia and many sponsors from the Intergovernmental Forum for Chemical Safety, EU, and the donors from Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, USA was thus able to accomplish the project.

So here we are today in order to contribute as much as possible to the reduction of risk caused by persistent organic pollutants.

The goal set for ourselves ought to be a comprehensive regulation of the whole area of POPs. It would be hard to find a more appropriate area for the use of the slogan Awe are all in the same boat@.

Allow me please to read to you now the words of Ms. Piškur-Kosma who looks after the implementation of the measures needed for ours, as well as future generations= sound environment, with a great sense of responsibility.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for us to have such an international conference on POPs in the Republic of Slovenia. So please allow me to express a warm welcome to you on behalf of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia and on my own behalf. Even though I am fully aware of the importance of the issues you intend to discuss at the workshop. I unfortunately cannot join you owing to my obligation to head the Slovene delegation at the WHO General Assembly in Geneva.

The Ministry of Health, where I am responsible, among other things, for the implementation of the national health care program in the part related to quality living environment, we have established a Department of Health Ecology with the very intention of ensuring a better chemical safety. Reduction in the use of health and environment damaging organic chemicals is certainly an issue which belongs to the scope of the care for a sound living environment.

The Republic of Slovenia is therefore banned in the past already the use of the majority or eight persistent organic pollutants and no import license for their import has been issued since the year 1992. The majority of pollutants contained in the POPs has also been already banned in the majority individual countries.

Our cooperation has to focus on continuous control and reduction of emissions of substances, listed among POPs due to their properties, wherever they still occur. The negative properties of POPs are their slow decomposition in the environment, ability to travel great distances from their closest source, accumulation of these substances in the tissues of living organisms and damage caused to the health of all living creatures. All of the above urges us to act as quickly as possible.

Considering the trend to globalize the greater part of the problems the mankind is facing today, we can note that the experts for POPs have become very early aware that the problem of getting contaminated by them cannot be the problem of an individual country only, but a problem that must be approached globally, on a worldwide scale.

In the end, dear Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to express my sincere thanks to UNEP and the director of UNEP Chemicals, Mr. James B. Willis, for organizing this meeting in the Republic of Slovenia, and wish you all a pleasant stay in Slovenia.

Dunja Piškur-Kosma

STATE SECRETARY