Press Releases 1998

[Index]

UN/ECE CONVENTION ON INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS TO ENTER INTO FORCE AS FINAL HURDLE IS CLEARED

4 May 1998

Meeting of the Signatories, Prague, Czech Republic, 13-15 May 1998

After Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation and Spain, which have all ratified the UN/ECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, the European Community, too, has now decided to put its full weight behind the Convention.

The Convention on the Transboundary Effects was adopted and signed in Helsinki in 1992. Since then its Signatories - Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Community - and other UN/ECE member States have met every year to promote industrial accident prevention and preparedness. They have also held successful simulation exercises to test their communications and response systems. Nevertheless, the Convention had so far failed to come into force because not enough Signatories had actually ratified it. A recent decision by the European Community has suddenly given the Convention an enormous boost.

On 23 March 1998, its Council of Ministers for the Environment gave the Convention the green light. This approval signals the European Community=s determination to see the Convention come into force and, hence, actively promote international cooperation to prevent industrial accidents and contain any accidents that might nevertheless occur.

Technically, Council Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances (the so-called SEVESO II Directive), adopted on 9 December 1996, binds the European Community to fulfil its obligations under the UN/ECE Convention. The Directive will become mandatory from February 1999. Consequently, representatives of the Governments of the member States of the European Union have declared that they will take the necessary steps to ratify the Convention and deposit their instruments of ratification or approval -- as far as possible simultaneously -- later this year. This would easily bring the number of ratifications to 16, as required for the Convention to come into effect.

At their forthcoming meeting, scheduled to take place in Prague, Czech Republic, from 13 to 15 May, the Signatories to the Convention will therefore start preparing the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties. They will plan activities to further build capacity to prevent, prepare for and respond to industrial accidents, especially in countries with economies in transition.

They will focus on prompt communication and mutual assistance in the event of an industrial accident through the UN/ECE accident notification system; developing and applying safety technology and safety management; reducing the risk of industrial accidents in the countries in transition through the two UN/ECE Industrial Accident Coordinating Centres established under the Convention; raising public awareness and promoting public participation in decision-making on hazardous installations; and cooperating with other United Nations organizations and institutions to strengthen accident-related programmes and projects.

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