UNECE’s Industrial Accidents Convention celebrates its 10th Anniversary
Geneva, 20 April 2010 --
UNECE celebrates the 10th anniversary of its Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, which entered into force on 19 April 2000.
The Convention aims at preventing industrial accidents as well as preparing and responding to it should an accident occur. In its first 10 years, the Convention has contributed to enhance safety culture at industrial plants. It also facilitated the cooperation between different public authorities to work together in a coordinated way on industrial safety e.g. regular authorities’ coordination meetings held in the Republic of Moldova, or the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Over the years, many countries have improved their mechanisms to identify hazardous plants in accordance with the Convention. As a result of this work national experts are using the same criteria for the classification of chemicals and location criteria across the UNECE region. Countries also improved notification to their neighbours on the identified hazardous plants.
Public authorities and the private operators worked together within the framework of the Convention to establish safety guidance and good practices for pipelines and tailing management facilities. These are used widely today in many UNECE countries.
“The Convention is an example of how countries can work to solve transboundary safety issues. The improvement in industrial safety is an essential component for safer communities and a cleaner, healthier environment” said Ján Kubiš, UNECE Executive Secretary.
Several simulations were organised in the framework of the Convention to strengthen member States’ crisis management planning and emergency response procedures; most recently on the Odra and Danube Rivers. Such simulations contribute to enhance mutual understanding, strengthen the effectiveness in the use of the UNECE Industrial Accident Notification System and build trust amongst countries.
An Assistance Programme was also launched to help countries with economies in transition to implement the Convention and to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and experience on industrial safety. 18 countries from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and South Eastern Europe work actively under this Programme and are supported by numerous countries from Western Europe, in particular by the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Switzerland. In the coming years the Programme will continue to be a key tool to improve industrial safety in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Over the next years, the Convention will see new initiatives to improve industrial safety including cooperation between safety and land-use planning authorities. The Convention will also be promoted in countries and regions outside UNECE to share the skills, experiences and best practices in industrial safety gained over the past decade.
In working together to prevent, prepare for and respond to an industrial accident, UNECE member States are leading the way in industrial safety and helping to create safer communities and a cleaner, healthier environment for their citizens. UNECE calls for Parties, in the event of accident with transboundary effects, to make a more consistent use of the Industrial Accident Notification System which is in place under the Convention for accidents notification.
For more information, please visit: www.unece.org/env/teia
Note to editors
The Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents was adopted in Helsinki on 17 March 1992 and entered into force on 19 April 2000. It has been ratified by 39 countries plus the European Union: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Countries participating to the Assistance Programme
- in South Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
- in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The United States and Canada are signatories of the Convention. Both countries have cooperation on prevention, preparedness and response to industrial accidents on the basis of bilateral agreements.
The Convention’s principles for the prevention, preparedness and response to industrial accidents are shared with regions and countries outside UNECE. This is done through UNECE’s contribution to activities of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in establishing a Flexible Framework for Addressing Chemical Accident Prevention and Preparedness. This is also done through bilateral actions by Parties to promote industrial safety with countries outside the region, e.g. Switzerland with Jordan, Germany with China.
Ref: ECE/ENV/10/P14