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WORLD TREATY WILL BAN CERTAIN TOXIC CHEMICALS By Corrina Schuler, National Post (Canada) JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 11 December 2000 -- Diplomats from 122 countries agreed yesterday to a global ban on 12 of the most toxic chemicals on Earth -- and no one was more relieved than John Buccini, the Canadian chemist who led a five-year fight for the agreement. "This treaty will protect present and future generations from the cancers, birth defects and other tragedies caused by persistent organic pollutants," a red-eyed Mr. Buccini told reporters in Johannesburg yesterday after an all-night marathon session of talks. Mr. Buccini, recently retired from Environment Canada, started studying the impact of the "dirty dozen" group of chemicals in 1995 for the United Nations Environment Program. He has chaired five conferences with negotiators from around the world. The treaty, to be signed in Sweden in May, will govern the production, use, export and disposal of pesticides and industrial chemicals, as well as their harmful by-products dioxins and furans. The chemicals have been blamed for everything from learning disabilities in some children living around the Great Lakes to smaller-than-average penises among Florida alligators. Many of the pollutants have been used in industry and agriculture for more than four decades. Although developed nations have already restricted some or all of the chemicals, they are popular in poorer countries in the midst of industrialization. "We are talking about global contamination ... and you can't solve the problem if a few people clean up their backyards," Mr. Buccini explained. "There has to be collective action." Bob Charlie, Chief of the Champagne First Nations, near Whitehorse, agreed. "We used to think that pollution didn't affect us because we are so isolated in the North," said Mr. Charlie, a member of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples Against POPs and an observer at the week-long talks. "But then we found out our traditional food is full of this stuff ... rabbits, gophers, fish, moose. We need this deal to preserve our culture and identity. We don't want the land to get to the point where it is too sick for us to use." Studies have shown Inuit women's breast milk has five times the toxins of breast milk from women in southern Canada. This is because pollutants released in places as far away as Russia or Brazil are attracted to the Arctic climate and tend to accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals. The chemicals are then consumed by people who live off the land. "Canada's influence is what got this whole process rolling and that is because of our North," said John Crump of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee. "It has been the canary in the coal mine, so to speak." The new treaty will ban spraying crops with DDT and other insect-killing pesticides. City councils may have to prohibit the backyard burning of garbage, which releases dioxins into the atmosphere. Power companies will be called on to replace transformers that use polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The restrictions will not come into effect until at least 50 countries ratify the deal -- and that could take another five years. Hundreds of environmental activists, health experts, academics and industry representatives were in Johannesburg to observe the government negotiations -- and many had thought a deal would be impossible to cinch. Earlier last week, activists accused the United States and Australia of putting trade above concerns for human health because they resisted "precautionary" sections that could see chemicals added to the list of banned substances even if their toxicity is not a scientific certainty. Developing countries were concerned they might not be able to afford the changes that will be required in their manufacturing processes. In the end, the agreement called for a financial mechanism and technical aid to help poor countries meet their obligations. While delegates bashed out the details, Greenpeace members tried to step up pressure for a treaty by parading through the Johannesburg conference centre in yellow chemical suits. Other activists wore bags over their heads to stress that they wanted delegates to "bag a deal." FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Basel Action Network is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability and environmental justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a `fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond `fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.  More News