The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM)
CHEM Trust is working at global level in order to improve the scope and effectiveness of SAICM (The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management). Adopted by the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) on 6 February 2006 in Dubai, SAICM is a policy framework for international action on chemical hazards.
SAICM was developed by a multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral Preparatory Committee and supports the achievement of the goal agreed at the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development of ensuring that, by the year 2020, chemicals are produced and used in ways that minimize significant adverse impacts on the environment and human health.
Under SAICM, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) have now been recognised as an emerging global policy issue. Countries have agreed to implement cooperative actions on EDCs with the overall objective of increasing awareness and understanding amongst policymakers and other stakeholders.
Pharmaceuticals in the environment
There is now a discussion within SAICM as to whether the issue of environmental pollution from pharmaceuticals should be nominated as a new emerging policy issue for SAICM.
- SAICM have a page on this nomination process
- CHEM Trust submitted our comments on this proposal in July 2014, and our report on medicines in the environment was distributed at the SAICM meeting in December 2014. This meeting agreed to propose environmentally persistent pharmaceuticals in the environment as an emerging policy issue at the next International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) in autumn 2015.
- The ICCM in autumn 2015 agreed that environmentally persistent pharmaceuticals should be an emerging policy issue – see blog.
