Steps towards SAICM development
Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) is a global voluntary policy framework to support the goal established by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002: “to ensure that, by 2020, chemicals will be produced and used in ways that lead to the minimization of significant adverse effects on the environment and human health using transparent science-based risk assessment procedures and science-based risk management procedures, taking into account the precautionary approach”.
In 1992 more than 178 Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (“Earth Summit”) adopted Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
Chapter 19 of the Agenda called for improved coordination and enhanced cooperation among international chemical safety activities and establishing an intergovernmental mechanism for chemical risk assessment and management.
It led to the establishment of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) which in 2000 adopted the Bahia Declaration and its associated Priorities for Action.
In 2002, as one of the actions to implement the WSSD (World Summit on Sustainable Development) 2020 goal, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation called for the development of “a strategic approach to international chemicals management” (SAICM) based on the Bahia Declaration.