SYMPOSIUM ON ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS

1
SYMPOSIUM ON ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN
HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS

• 6-8 NOVEMBER 2006
• PRAGUE - PRUHONICE, CZECH REPUBLIC
• CASE OF CAMEROON
• Presented by
• Dr. EFENDENE Blaise
• (Director of Standards and Control, Ministry of
  Environment and Nature Protection)

2
CAMEROON

• Cameroon is a country located in Central Africa,
  in the heart of the Golf of Guinea. It is made up
  of about 15000000 inhabitants on a total surface
  area of 475000 Km2. The bordering countries are
  Gabon, Congo Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea,
  Nigeria, and the Republic of Central Africa.

3
CAMEROON

• Cameroon is a country that depends essentially on
  her agriculture with diversified industries of
  the size of that of a developing country coupled
  with its multiple mining and Energetic sector.
• The use of huge quantities of chemical Products
  is proving to be necessary for the sustainable
  development of our economy, this has called for
  adequate institutional measures and regulations
  that will at least minimize the movements of
  these chemical products.

4
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS IN CAMEROON ON
HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL PRODUCTS

• National Environmental Management law,
• The water Code,
• Forestry Code
• law on Classified Establishments,
• The Petroleum Code.
• Moreover, Cameroon is a Party to most of the
  Conventions on hazardous Chemical Products
  (Stockholm, Basel, Rotterdam, Kyoto Protocol,
  Montreal Protocol ) and has a National Approval
  Commission for Pesticides and the National
  Approval Commission for Pharmaceutical Products.

5
SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

• The danger due to chemical products in general
  and hazardous chemical products in particular is
  not or is in a limited measure known by
  industrial operators, political decision makers
  and the population.
• The weakness of the implementation of a framework
  geared towards ensuring the prevention or
  reduction of the movements of hazardous chemical
  products.
• It should be noted that the administrative system
  needed to impose the enforcement of the
  regulation is insufficient (limited financial
  means, lack of human trained capacities for these
  activities)

6
SECTORS OF ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING OF HAZARDOUS
CHEMICAL PRODUCTS IN CAMEROON

• The pharmaceutical sector with the densest
  fraudulent activities Then comes,
  
• The cars spare parts, mechanics and surface
  treatment sectors
  
• Printing, the manufacturing and the
  transformation of paints and pigments
  
• Foundry craft
• Soap cottage industries
• Agrochemical products and pesticides in general
• Mining cottage industries
• Used mineral oils from boats (that may contain
  polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs))
  
• The service sectors (chemical products used in
  the running of computers, photocopies,)

7
SECTORS OF ILLEGAL TRAFFICKING OF HAZARDOUS
CHEMICAL PRODUCTS IN CAMEROON (cont.)

• As a matter of facts hardware shops sprout up and
  disappears overnight in the quarters where we
  find illegal toxic chemical products (e.g calcium
  carbide, batteries, reformed oil, traditional
  home use products) Which makes the identification
  and the drafting of an appraisal of the current
  situation quite difficult and complex.
• It is even common to find yourself before a
  trader offering a car spare part so called
  original (that is, coming from the car mother
  industry) and the other non original (bench
  marked by an industry whose mastery of the art is
  not certain) at very low cost .
• And looking at the low standard of living of the
  population, the choice is made very fast

8
SOLUTIONS

• In some big towns, ( Douala, Yaounde ) the
  ministry issues a manifest for the transfer of
  waste and special chemical products from one
  facility to the other for the purpose of their
  identification and management.
• Imported chemical products equally pose a real
  problem due to the porosity of our borders.
  Administrative and regulatory measures exist, for
  example the creation of a unique counter where
  the customs, Environment, Public Health,
  agriculture, maritime departments jointly
  intervene.

9
RECOMMENDATIONS

• Technical instructions regarding hazardous
  products with a detail list of sampling and
  analysis processes should be enacted
  
• Capacity building for the inspectors, for it
  should be noted that it is a very complex
  domain
  
• Reinforcing the manifest of the management of
  chemical products in the multiple control
  centres.