RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL RENEWING AND REVISING THE MANDATE OF THE CHEMICALS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE INCLUDING THE RENEWAL OF THE CHEMICALS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME

THE COUNCIL,

HAVING REGARD to the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of 14 December 1960;

HAVING REGARD to the Rules of Procedure of the Organisation;

HAVING REGARD to the Financial Regulations of the Organisation;

HAVING REGARD to the Resolution of the Council on Partnerships in OECD Bodies [C(2012)100/REV2/FINAL];

HAVING REGARD to the establishment of the “Special Programme on the Control of Chemicals” in 1978 [C(78)127(Final) and C/M(78)14(Final), Item 182], last renewed in 2020 [C(2020)60 and C/M(2020)6];

HAVING REGARD to the 1995 Memorandum of Understanding, concerning the Establishment of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which was expanded to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) [C(2008)81] as well as the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions;

HAVING REGARD to the Resolution of the Council on Implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) [C(2008)32] and the Global Framework for Chemicals adopted in September 2023;

HAVING REGARD to the proposed mandate of the Chemicals and Biotechnology Committee [C(2024)72];

DECIDES:

A.   The Chemicals and Biotechnology Committee (hereafter the “Committee”) has the following mandate:

I.    Objectives

1.   The main objective of the Committee is to support the development, harmonisation and improvement of Members and Partners’ management of chemicals (including nanomaterials, advanced materials, pesticides and biocides) and products of modern biotechnology, with a view to contribute to sustainable development by protecting human health and the environment from the risks of chemicals and products of modern biotechnology, preventing the creation of non-tariff barriers to trade, saving costs to countries and industry, and promoting the convergence of chemicals management systems.

2.   The intermediary objectives of the Committee are the following:

a.   assist Members and Partners to anticipate, identify and prevent or manage the risks to human health and the environment from the exposure to single or multiple chemicals as well as products of modern biotechnology, especially through the development and implementation of harmonised, efficient, effective and innovative instruments for testing, assessment and management;

b.   assist Members and Partners in addressing safety and sustainability issues arising from the development of emerging and converging technologies;

c.   improve the access to as well as the exchange and dissemination of safety data on chemicals and products of modern biotechnology;

d.   assist Members and Partners in their efforts to implement the Global Framework on Chemicals;

e.   ensure efficiencies and optimal use of resources for governments and industry through harmonisation of domestic policies and instruments and by creating mechanisms for sharing work in areas of mutual interest;

f.   promote effective and efficient chemical safety policies throughout a globalising world by facilitating co-operation between Members and Partners, in particular between Adherents to the OECD Decisions related to the Mutual Acceptance of Data in the Assessment of Chemicals [OECD/LEGAL/0194 and OECD/LEGAL/0252];

g.   ensure coherence, consistency, transparency and efficiency in chemical safety and biosafety policies by providing a forum for obtaining input from all stakeholders;

h.   assist Members and Partners in establishing or improving chemicals management systems, inter alia by making the outputs as accessible, relevant, compatible and useful as possible, distributing them widely and free of charge, and promoting the public’s right to know about the hazards, exposures and potential risks of chemicals and products containing them throughout their life-cycle;

i.   assist Members and Partners in their efforts to meet the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as they relate to sound management of chemicals and waste and the reduction of emissions of chemicals to the environment;

j.   assist in the fight against the illegal international trade of chemicals, focusing on pesticides; and

k.   assist in addressing other issues connected with the sound management of chemicals and waste, such as identifying solutions for the sustainable use of plastics, addressing misalignments between chemicals and waste policies, determining the economic benefits of chemicals management, promoting financing for sustainable chemicals and chemicals management, promoting due diligence in and greening of industry supply chains related to chemicals, or measuring adverse effects caused by chemicals in surface water.

II.    Budget

3.   The expenditure of the Committee shall be charged against the Part I Output Area “Environment, Health and Safety (including Chemicals)” as well as appropriations authorised for it under Part II of the Budget of the Organisation [Chemicals Management Programme, CHEM].

4.   Appropriations of the Part II Chemicals Management Programme for which no commitment has been entered into before the end of the Financial Year for which they were appropriated as well as any surplus income shall be automatically carried forward to the budget of the Chemicals Management Programme for the ensuing year by decision of the Secretary-General, notwithstanding the provisions of Regulation 10 of the Financial Regulations of the Organisation.

5.   The annual contribution of a new member of the Part II Chemicals Management Programme shall be added to the budget of the Programme. If a new member joins during a financial period, its contribution, calculated on a pro-rata temporis basis, shall become a supplementary budget.

III.    Participation

6.   Member countries that are not contributing to the financing of the Part II Chemicals Management Programme are not participating in decision-making regarding outputs solely financed by the Part II budget.

7.   Governments should, whenever possible, appoint to the Committee senior officials with direct responsibility for advising their governments on chemicals management policy and the allocation of resources in this area.

IV.    Co-ordination arrangements

8.   In carrying out is work, the Committee shall:

•   maintain close working relationships with other bodies of the Organisation working on issues that affect the development and implementation of chemicals management policies and coordinate with them as appropriate, in particular the Environment Policy Committee;

•   co-operate with other intergovernmental organisations, in particular the parties to the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Establishment of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) as well as the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention, the Secretariat of the Global Framework for Chemicals and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity;

•   consult and share information with Business at OECD (BIAC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) and non-governmental organisations working on the environment, health and/or animal welfare.

B.   The mandate of the Committee shall remain in force until 31 December 2028.