[Index]
A NEW GLOBAL CLASSIFICATION AND LABELLING
SYSTEM
FOR CHEMICALS (GHS)
Geneva, 17 December 2002
A new global system, that is able to protect people from the mismanagement
of chemicals, classify them according to their hazard and create a labelling
system based on pictograms universally understandable, has been adopted last
week in Geneva. This system is now available for worldwide implementation.
Through the different steps from their production to their handling, transport
and use, chemicals are a real danger for human health and the environment.
People of any ages, from children to elderly, using many different languages
and alphabets, belonging to various social conditions, including illiterates,
are daily confronted to dangerous products (chemicals, pesticides, etc); the
youngest, poorest and least educated are the most vulnerable.
To face this danger, Governments decided to harmonize existing communication
systems on chemicals in order to develop a single, globally harmonized system
to address classification of chemicals, labels, and safety data sheets. This
was not a totally novel concept since harmonization of classification and
labelling was already largely in place for physical hazards and acute toxicity
in the transport sector, but had not been achieved in the workplace or consumer
sectors. Moreover, transport requirements in countries were often not harmonized
with those of other sectors in the same country.
The Globally Harmonized System for the Labelling and Classification of Chemicals
was adopted last week by the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous
Goods and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of
Chemicals (CETDG/GHS), an ECOSOC subsidiary body serviced by the UNECE secretariat,
in Geneva after a decade of efforts and cooperation amongst a broad number
of countries and organizations, notably the Committee, ILO and OECD under
the umbrella of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Management of Chemicals
(IOMC).
The international mandate that provided the impetus for this work was adopted
in the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
as reflected in Agenda 21, para.19.27. In its Plan of Implementation (para.
22.(c)) adopted in Johannesburg on 4 September 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable
Development encouraged countries to implement the new GHS as soon as possible
with a view to having the system fully operational by 2008. Implementation
has already started with pilot countries introducing the system in their national
practices in different regions of the world.
The GHS text will be available as a UN publication in early 2003. The GHS
system will be kept dynamic, and regularly revised and made more efficient
as experience is gained in its implementation. While national or regional
governments are the primary audiences for this document, it also contains
sufficient context and guidance for those in industry who will ultimately
be implementing the national requirements which will be introduced.
For further information, please contact :
Olivier Kervella
Chief, Dangerous Goods and Special Cargoes Section
UNECE Transport Division
Palais des Nations, office 418
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41(0)22 917 24 56
Fax: + 41(0)22 917 00 39
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/danger.htm
Ref: ECE/TRANS/02/07