“Industrial chemicals usage shifting to S-Asia” – Rishad

As Sri Lanka’s industrial contribution within GDP continues to grow, their chemical usage too are growing in par with South Asia. “During the last decade, Sri Lanka’s industrial sector has grown strongly and now it is almost 29% of our GDP and is set to become stronger under the development vision of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The same structural shift is seen across South Asia and as a result, the production of industrial chemicals has been shifting to the developing world, mostly South Asian countries,” said Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen.

Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the tenth Regional Meeting of the National Authorities of States Parties of Asia, held at Samudra Ballroom, Taj Samudra on 26 June. No less than 35 reps from Asia and Pacific countries were in attendance on 26 June along with Netherland based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador in Netherlands and Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW Buddhi Athauda and Senior Minister H.M. Fowzie. 

“The same structural shift of industrial growth within GDP is seen across South Asia and as a result, the production of industrial chemicals has been shifting to the developing world, mostly South Asian countries, according to the United Nation’s Environment Program. This makes it increasingly important for OPCW’s involvement in the region. Sri Lanka became a member state in 1993 and we are one of the first countries in the world to ratify the convention.  Implementation of this convention within Sri Lanka will be of extreme importance as this is the only act which makes it an offence to produce, stockpile or use chemical weapons.  If you look back into the history of the use of chemical weapons it is clear that these weapons had been used both in the conventional wars and by terrorists to accomplish their aims.  Sri Lanka Chemical Weapons Convention Act No 58 of 2007 makes it an offence to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain, transfer or use chemical weapons.  It will also be an offence to manufacture use or trade certain toxic chemicals listed in the convention’s scheduled chemicals, without the approval of the national authority established for implementing the convention in Sri Lanka. Due to the dual nature of scheduled chemicals, it can be used to produce chemical weapons or used for various commercial purposes. The presence of the large number of states parties from the region today is a reflection of the importance they attach to the successful implementation of the convention in the Asia as well as their desire to discuss issues that impact their chemical industry whilst implementing at a national level the provisions of the chemical weapons convention. Moreover, as trade from Asia with other countries and regions rapidly increases in the future, the challenges of effectively monitoring of trade in scheduled chemicals need to be tackled by each states party in the region. This seminar seeks to better understand the national implementation measures and chemical industry issues which are relevant to states parties from Asia to the chemical weapons convention and provides an opportunity for National Authorities to share their implementation experiences for mutual benefit,” Minister Bathiudeen said.

Üzümcü said, “Regulation of chemicals has become a serious challenge. This year marks the fifteenth year of entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention which is a significant milestone. OPCW’s hard work produced excellent results. National authorities play a crucial role in implementing the convention and it is important that they understand the aspects of the convention. The Asia region has some of the most diverse chemical industries in terms of type and size. It also has some parties (countries) possessing some of the most significant chemical industries in the world while some other states have chemical industries in various nascent stages.”