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OECD's work on Chemical Safety is carried out under the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Programme and its secretariat is the EHS Division in the Environment Directorate.
The Programme is overseen by the "Joint Meeting" which comprises the Environment Policy Committee's Working Party on Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology and the Chemicals Committee. The Chemicals Committee, like the Environment Policy Committee (EPOC), reports directly to the OECD Council. The work of the Chemicals Committee is largely funded by a specific (Part II) budget separate from the regular OECD budget.
The Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and Working Party on Chemicals, Pesticides and Biotechnology overseas six subsidiary bodies called Working Groups. [Mandates of bodies/groups]. In addition, in order to continue specific work that needs input from experts, the Joint Meeting and its Working Groups establish various Task Forces with specific time-limited mandates, as well as Expert Groups, Steering Groups, Expert Panels, and Issues Teams to study specific issues, to oversee defined projects, or develop proposals.
Non-member economies and stakeholder partners also participate in the activities of the EHS Programme.
The following are the work areas of the EHS Programme and the Working Groups and the main sub-bodies that carry out the work:
Test Guidelines Programme
Good Laboratory Practice and Compliance Monitoring
Risk Assessment Programme
Risk Management Programme
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Steering Group on Chemical Product Policy (CPP)
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Issue Teams on Sustainable Chemistry, Brominated Flame Retardants, Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)
Co-operation on Existing Chemicals / HPV Programme
Improving Efficiencies in New Chemicals Notification and Assessments
Harmonisation of Classification and Labelling Systems
Pesticides Programme
Biocides Programme
Chemical Accidents Programme
Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers Programme
Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology
Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds
Manufactured Nanomaterials
Work with Non-member Economies
Working with governments outside the OECD is an important part of the EHS Programme. Experts from non-member economies often take part in its technical work that goes into the development of methods, guidelines, reports and other products.
Israel, Slovenia, and South Africa are full participants in the Joint Meeting for issues related to Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD) as used in the Working Groups of National Co-ordinators of the Test Guidelines Programme and on Good Laboratory Practice. Israel and Slovenia and South Africa are also regular non-Member observers to the Joint Meeting and many subsidiary bodies to the Joint Meeting. Argentina and the Russian Federation are observers in the Working Group on the Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight in Biotechnology and the Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and Feeds. India and Singapore are an observers to the Working Group on Good Laboratory Practice and the Working Group of National Co-ordinators of the Test Guidelines Programme in the framework of their provisional adherence to the MAD Council Decision.
Many projects are carried out with other international organisations which represent non-member countries. For example, at the request of the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the GHS, the Task Force on Harmonization of Classification and Labelling is coordinating the technical work carried out by the experts to develop proposals for classification criteria and labelling in the area of health and environmental hazards.
Stakeholder Partners
The Joint Meeting recognises the valuable contribution that non-governmental organisations make to EHS issues and attaches great importance to working with them. Representatives of environmental NGOs, business, and trade unions participate as invited experts in the Joint Meeting and subsidiary bodies, and in a range of activities under the Joint Meeting, including various expert meetings, conferences, workshops, etc.
Industry participation in Joint Meeting activities is organised by the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), while trade union representation is organised by the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC). The participation of environmental NGOs across the OECD is co-ordinated by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB). The International Council for Animal Protection in OECD Programmes (ICAPO) participates as invited experts in meetings where issues relating to animal welfare are discussed.
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