A report released on 25 February by two non-governmental groups, Basel Action Network and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, says that the export of discarded electronics components from the US to less- developed regions in Asia -- namely China and India -- is posing serious health and environmental threats. Titled "Exporting Harm: The Techno Trashing of Asia", the report cites evidence obtained in the town of Guiyu, in southern China's Guangdong province, where electronic waste from computers and printers is disassembled at a number of facilities. However, the report notes that, "a tremendous amount of imported [electronic] waste material and process residues is not recycled but is simply dumped in open fields, along riverbanks, ponds, wetlands, in rivers and in irrigation ditches," the report said. According to the publication, sediment and water samples taken from the area indicate the presence of high levels of heavy metals of the kind found in computers and other electronic components. Between 50 and 80 percent of electronic waste intended for recycling in the western US is shipped to countries such as China, India and Pakistan, where environmental regulations are less stringent. The European Union is currently in the process of implementing legislation that would require electronics manufacturers to adopt cradle-to-grave responsibility for their products, while the US has resisted this regulatory approach. The EU legislation is aimed at phasing out the use of six hazardous, persistent bioaccumulative toxic materials found in common electronics products such as VCRs and computers.

To view the NGO report visit: http://www.ban.org.

"Report slams export of 'e-waste' to Asia," REUTERS, 26 February 2002.

PESTICIDES, ASBESTOS RECOMMENDED FOR STRICTER TRADE CONTROLS

Experts at the 3rd session of the Interim Chemical Review Committee (17- 21 February, Geneva) called for three widely-used pesticides and all forms of asbestos to be added to the list of chemicals which require "prior informed consent" (PIC) by the importing country under the 1998 Rotterdam Convention. In this context, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) highlighted the broader problem of cheap organophosphates whose use continues -- in particular in developing countries even after they have been banned or restricted in industrialised countries -- despite growing evidence of illness and death. UNEP also stressed that the experts' decision reconfirmed "the right to make trade judgments on the basis of how a pesticide is actually used in the field, rather than on the basis of the manufacturer's instructions". The Committee's recommendations will be forwarded to the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee of the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals and pesticides, currently scheduled for 30 September - 4 October in Bonn, Germany. While the Rotterdam Convention has yet to enter into force with only 18 of the required 50 ratifications submitted, signatory governments have pledged to apply PIC provisions of the Convention on a voluntary basis.

Documents of the meeting are available at http://www.pic.int/.

"Three deadly pesticides and asbestos targeted for action," UNEP, 21 February 2002.

US-ARGENTINA COUNCIL MEETS ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT

The US-Argentina Bilateral Council on Trade and Investment convened for its first meeting on 20 February to discuss ways to increase trade and coordinate efforts in multilateral forums. At the meeting, Deputy US Trade Representative Peter Allgeier and Argentine Secretary for Trade, International Economic Relations and Consular Affairs Martin Redrado reiterated their commitment to pursuing trade liberalisation through the WTO, the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) and the "four- plus-one" mechanism involving the US and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). The next meeting of the Council is currently scheduled to take place on 17 April in Buenos Aires.

"U.S.-Argentina Bilateral Council on Trade's First Meeting Stresses Biotech, Steel, FTAA," INTERNATIONAL TRADE DAILY, 25 February 2002.