Introductory Workshop on Industrial Chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention

The Basel Convention Regional Centre for the Caribbean (BCRC-Caribbean) hosted an Introductory Workshop on Industrial Chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention for the Caribbean Sub-region, from the 8th to 10th October, 2014 at the Hilton, in Port-of-Spain.

In attendance were representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Mr. Alex Mangwiro of the Secretariat of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Convention and Dr. Kersten Gutschmidt of the World Health Organisation (WHO) were also in attendance and acted as the facilitators of the Workshop. Trinidad and Tobago was represented by Ms. Keima Gardiner from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), as well as representatives from the Chemistry Food and Drugs  Division, Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs. 

 

The overarching aim of the workshop was to utilize a range of activities to aid in increasing awareness of the  Rotterdam Convention, as well as develop and/or strengthen the national framework for the sound management of industrial chemicals.

 

The Workshop comprised of several technical presentations in the morning period, followed by simulation exercises in the afternoon based on the presentations which included: stakeholder identification and import responses for industrial chemicals, risk assessment, and development of a country strategy for the management of a specific chemical using the Rotterdam Convention Resource Toolkit. The Workshop served as a useful platform for networking with the key stakeholders  involved in the management of  industrial chemicals in the country.

 
 

Group shot of all the participants at the Workshop including Ms. Gardiner, EPPD, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (front row, 3rd from the right)