On 24th February, 2005, the Union Cabinet gave its nod for signing and ratifying by India the Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade.

It also gave its approval to the proposal to designate Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals as designated national authorities for industrial chemicals and the Ministry of Agriculture as designated national authority for pesticides.

The early signature and ratification of the convention will enable the Government of India to participate in various Committees to be constituted under the convention.

Ratification of Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is also on the anvil. While deliberations are on within the concerned ministries to ratify Stockholm Convention, which deals with 12 chemicals classified as POPs, new studies reveal alarming levels of Dioxins, one of the POPs in Indian food chain. Dioxins are among the most potent toxic chemicals known to man. Dioxins are released as unintended by products of combustion activities like incineration.

In India there have been some studies for monitoring the levels of dioxins in the environment and food.

High levels of Dioxins and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) have ben found in chicken egg samples from India. The eggs samples were collected by Toxics Link as a part of a worldwide campaign “Keep The Promise, Eliminate POPs” initiated by the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN).

Chicken eggs from a total of 20 countries across five continents were also examined.

The egg samples collected from near the Queen Mary’s Hospital medical waste incinerator in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh were tested in a Czech laboratory Axys Varilab. The dioxin levels found were five and a half times higher than the European Union (EU) dioxin limits for eggs. In addition, the samples exceeded the proposed limits for PCBs by 4.7-fold.

These findings are scheduled to be shared with media on 4th April, 2005 in New Delhi.

India is still to ratify the Stockholm Convention that is intended to protect human health and the environment by reducing and eliminating POPs.

In such a backdrop, it indeed makes sense for Indian governmental to ratify this global Treaty.