Issue N� 09 � 31 March - 4 April 2003

It�s just happened �

UNECE/CEI cooperation

On 21 March, Mr. Paolo Garonna, UNECE Deputy Executive Secretary and Ms. Larisssa Kapitsa, Director of the Technical Cooperation Unit, met in Trieste with Mr. Harald Kreid, Director General of the Central European Initiative (CEI) to discuss UNECE/CEI cooperation in various activities, including the preparation of a project on biomass pilot plants, the UNECE Trans-European Railway Project (TER) and Trans-European North-South Motorway Project (TEM). It was also decided that the Investiguide, a joint UNECE/CEI publication, would be enhanced and a related website will be established. UNECE and CEI will also cooperate in the Business Advisory Service project.

Progress continues on Blue Corridor Project

The third meeting of the Task Force on the Blue Corridor Project was held on 14 March in Berlin, at the headquarters of the European Business Congress (EBC). As first reported in ECE Weekly N� 02, the goal of the Blue Gas Corridor Project is to establish European transportation corridors for natural gas vehicles (NGVs), together with a network of gas refuelling stations, hence the project will result in significant greenhouse gas emission reductions in the region.� The meeting was attended by 20 participants from 11 UNECE countries, as well as from a range of NGOs, including: Clean Air Foundation, European Business Congress (EBC), European Natural Gas Vehicle Association (ENGVA), Vernadsky Ecological Foundation, and International Road Transport Union (IRU).� Following extensive discussions, there was general consensus on the major findings of the draft report with regard to the feasibility of the Blue Corridor project. Potential sources of financing for the implementation phase of the project were also discussed.� The report of the meeting will be submitted for consideration and approval by the Committee on Sustainable Energy at its November 2003 session.

Interns

The UNECE has in recent years developed its internship programme. This programme not only allows students and young professionals to get acquainted with UNECE achievements, but also the UNECE benefits from an outside view of its undertakings. Last year it welcomed more than 50 interns from 25 countries, mostly UNECE member States, but also countries outside the region such as Mexico, Philippines, Ghana, Japan and India. They worked in such areas as trade, technical assistance, statistics, economic analysis, transport, environment and communication. The success of this programme can be confirmed by the increasing number of requests the UNECE receives each year. Some universities, such as the Georgetown Law School in the United States, now have a long-standing habit of sending interns.

Off the press �

The GHS publication is now available

The official text of the new ECOSOC instrument, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), adopted in December 2002, is now available as a publication in English. Requested at the 1992 Rio Summit, the elaboration of the system is the result of long cooperative efforts of a number of organizations and countries; its worldwide implementation by 2008 was urged at the Johannesburg summit. The system aims at protecting human health, property and the environment against potential hazards from chemicals. The document explains the purpose, scope and application of the system, and gives guidance to national authorities and to the business sector on how to implement it. The 26 hazard classes, including criteria for classification and corresponding hazard communication elements, are also described in depth therein. Safety Data Sheets and pictograms are among these hazard communication tools.

More details on the document and its contents and how to order it are given at the following web address: http://www.unece.org/trans/welcome.html

Coming up soon �

31 March-2 April�������� Joint Consultation on the European Comparison Programme
31 March-3 April�������� Working Party on Road Traffic Safety
1-3 April�������������������� Seminar on Analysis, Methodology of Treatment and Remediation of Contaminated Soils and Groundwater (Paris, France)
3-4 April�������������������� Ad Hoc Preparatory Working Group of Senior Officials �Environment for Europe�

Facts and figures: