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UNECE Convention on Access to Information,
Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental
Matters UNECE PRTR Protocol Working Group on Pollutant Release and
Transfer Registers (PRTR)
Mandate
The Working Group was established following the
recommendation of the 2nd Meeting of the Signatories to the Convention (Dubrovnik,
Croatia, July 2000) and in accordance with the decision of the Committee
on Environmental Policy at its seventh session (CEP/WG.5/2000/2, para.
28, and ECE/CEP/74, para. 30 (b) respectively). The PRTR Working Group
has been charged with the task of preparing a legally binding instrument
on pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs), with a view to
having a draft text ready for adoption at the Kiev Ministerial Conference
May 2003.
Articles 5.9 and 10.2(i) of the Aarhus
Convention created the framework and process for the potential integration
of current national Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs),
cleaner production activities (e.g. UNEP CP Initiative) and
improvement of the "right to know" processes. The union of ongoing
international processes concerning sound management of chemicals, pollution
prevention, and risk management with the Aarhus process can help countries
in developing their own PRTR systems to serve the public and all stakeholders.
Great amount of knowledge and commitment
can be monitored for example via UNEP, UNITAR, OECD,
IFCS initiatives. Also the World Summit on Sustainable Development
2002 concluded with significant commitments to improve the lives
and health of people by sound management of chemicals. Governments
committed inter alia that by 2020, chemicals should be used and produced
in ways that do not harm human health and the environment….
The PRTR Virtual classroom could play positive
role in monitoring the progress ("benchmarking") of the national PRTR
systems.
Note: This homepage
is only a temporary website established for the demonstration purposes
and discussion of the PRTR Working Group by the Czech Ministry of the
Environment and Environmental Partnership (EPCE). It is not an official
site of the PRTR Working Group and does not represent the official
standpoints and procedures of the PRTR Working Group.
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