The third session of the Preparatory Committee for the Development of a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM PrepCom-3) was held from 19-24 September 2005 in Vienna, Austria.

During the week, delegates discussed the SAICM high-level declaration, overarching policy strategy, and global plan of action. The primary objective of PrepCom-3 was to produce final text to be forwarded to the “International Conference on Chemicals Management,” to be held from 4-6 February 2006, in Dubai. However, delegates did not reach agreement on many elements in the three documents under consideration. Areas of disagreement remained in all three documents, including: principles and approaches; description of the SAICM as “voluntary”; financial considerations; and the timing and frequency of International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) meetings. PrepCom-3 did make significant progress in the GPA, including in some sections of the executive summary and a number of work areas, and in sections of the OPS, including international illegal traffic, governance, and key parts of the implementation section. However, there are still many politically sensitive issues that remain unresolved, and will have to be taken up by the ICCM in Dubai. More information.