14 July 2008: Call for comment's input on OELTWG teleconference, 23 July 2008

Dear SAICM National Focal Points in Asia and the Pacific

As I informed you in my previous e-mail communication, I have been participating in the discussion within the "Friends of the Secretariat" to prepare for the Open-Ended Legal and Technical Working Group (OELTWG) and the second International Conference on Chemicals Management. The summary of the teleconferences so far and related documents are available from the SAICM Website (http://www.chem.unep.ch/saicm/). Iran and Thailand also participate in the teleconferences as additional representatives from this region.

The next teleconference is scheduled next week, on Wednesday 23 July. The documents for the teleconference are attached in this e-mail. I would appreciate your comments on these papers that I should convey to the teleconference. Especially, Document 2 includes a proposal to reschedule the OELTWG, originally scheduled in October back to back with the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, to the week of 10 November to take place in Latin America. There was an indication from the regional focal point of Western Europe and Other Governments that Chile is willing to host the meeting. For the details of the rationale for this rescheduling proposal, please refer to Document 2.

I will be requested to present the Asia-Pacific regional views on this proposal. My initial view is that if this is the only way that satisfy all the parties currently in conflict, we should not block the proposal to go forward. However, in my view, holding a meeting in Latin America does not make it easier for most of the Asia-Pacific countries to attend, even with the reduced daily subsistence allowance. Moreover, the new arrangement is disadvantageous in view of the synergetic effects to have the meeting back to back with Rotterdam COP. Therefore, my support to the Secretariat's proposal is rather a reluctant one, although I appreciate the Secretariat's efforts to find the best middle-ground solution.

I think I will present this idea at the teleconference, but if you have any comments, not only on this issue but also on other teleconference documents, I would appreciate receiving them by Monday 21st July.

Thank you for your attention.

Best regards,
Esak

Eisaku Toda
Asia-Pacific Regional Focal Point for SAICM
E-mail:saicm@iges.or.jp

Note: For further details, please contact: saicm@iges.or.jp