National Profile for Chemical Management in Pakistan 2009 Muhammad Zafar Iqbal International Cooperation Wing Ministry of Environment, Government of Pakistan Islamabad National Profile for Chemical Mangement in Pakistan Acknowledgements The National Profile was initiated under the Supervision of Mr. Abid Ali, Joint Secretary, International Cooperation Wing, Ministry of Environment and Focal Person for SAICM from Pakistan. Mr. Zaheer Ahmed Gillani National SAICM Coordinator, National Project Manager, Multilateral Environmental Agreements Secretariat (MEAS) and Syed Hashim Raza, Subject Specialist SAICM and MEAS, Ministry of Environment, Government of Pakistan provided us guidance and their continued support throughout this project. The National Profile would not be complete without the contribution of our stakeholders, especially, Federal Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, Commerce, Health, Labour and Manpower, Production, Law Justice, Industry, Communication, Science and Technology, Federal Bureau of Statistics and their departments; provincial departments of Agriculture and Environment; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). I take this opportunity to thank United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) for providing guidance and financial support towards the production of this report and for supporting workshops related to this project. Thanks to my all associates who worked diligently and provided support during the production of this Profile. We have endeavored to ensure that the factual material that has been incorporated is accurate, however, would invite comment on any errors or inaccuracies. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal National SAICM Consultant Coordinator, Team Leader for SAICM Baseline Document International Cooperation Wing, Ministry of Environment, Government of Pakistan i Contributors Muhammad Zafar Iqbal National SAICM Consultant Coordinator/Team Leader SAICM Baseline Documents Mrs. Nuzhat Mahmud Environmental/Analytical Chemist Zafar Jalbani Chemical Engineer/Field Coordinator Huma Afzal Research Assistant Muhammad Umair Sheikh Data Analyst From Ministry of Environment Syed Zaheer Ahmed Gillani Editor/ National SAICM Coordinator NPM MEAs Secretariat, MoE Syed Hashim Raza Coordinator, MEAs Secretariat, MOE ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Chemical sector plays a vital role in the economic development of any country. Pakistan has not yet utilized potential of chemical sector. At the time of independence, chemical industry in Pakistan was practically non-existent. Over the years, some traditional sectors have developed, however the Chemical Industry in Pakistan is still at a very nascent stage. The chemical industry in Pakistan has by and large developed on a fragmented and ad hoc basis motivated by a combination of the existence of small local market and attracted by traditionally high tariffs. As a result it suffers from the lack of scales, national integration and consequent non-competitiveness. However, there are sectors where some scale and integration has been achieved on the basis of growing local market. These include fertilizers, pesticides and to some extent dyestuffs and other inputs for the textile industries. Even in the domains of pesticides and dyestuffs, the production is primarily based on imported base materials and the domestic value addition is confined to formulations and packaging. Pakistan is an agricultural economy; therefore, major part of the chemical industry provides agricultural inputs, i.e. fertilizer and pesticides. Chemicals including pesticides, fertilizers, industrial chemicals and consumer chemicals have become indispensable in many economic activities and are increasingly used in the industrial, agricultural and consumer sectors of Pakistan. But, increasing evidence suggests that these chemicals can cause health and environment problems at various stages during their life cycle from production or import through disposal. Moreover, most of the industries in the country are situated in urban center near the population without treatment and pollution control facilities. Unfortunately there is no centralized treatment facility anywhere in the country. The Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS), whose primary goal is to complete the tasks and programmes defined in Chapter XIX of Agenda 21, has emphasized the need to prepare national profiles on the sound management of chemicals. The National Profile is the first document in Pakistan that summarizes the efforts of governmental bodies and non-governmental organizations (of the industrial sector, the scientific community, special interest groups, environmental groups, public interest groups) to promote chemical safety and the sound management of chemicals. The National Profile provides an overview of the life-cycles (import, production, use, disposal, etc.) of the most significant chemicals in Pakistan, analyses the national infrastructure meant to ensure the sound management of chemicals, the human resources devoted to making this function, and the regulatory aspects of all this; it also analyses the strong and weak points of these factors, and discusses the possible social and economic advantages, the risks associated with making mistakes, and the need to participate in international co-operation. Furthermore, it contains recommendations on ways to improve chemical safety in Pakistan. Primarily, in 2000 a National Profile on Chemical Management in Pakistan was prepared for providing information on registered hazardous chemicals being imported or produced locally. Now iii the present National Profile is being prepared, with the aim that it can be used to inform both members of the professional community and the general public, and that implementation of its recommendations will go a long way towards improving the coordination of relevant tasks, and the level of chemical safety in Pakistan. National Background Information Pakistan is located in the southeast of Asia and bordered by India, China, Iran and Afghanistan. Pakistan covers about 796,095 sq km with a population of some 163.67 million in mid 2008-09. The overall literacy rate (age 10 years and above) is 56%. The population of working age (15-65 years) is about 115.64 million while the unemployment rate stood at 5.2% in 2007-08. Pakistan has extreme variations of temperature as well as great topographical variety. The administration is federal parliamentary system with a president as head of state and an elected prime minister as head of government. There are 4 provinces, and each province is divided into districts, sub-districts and villages consecutively. The national language is Urdu, while Urdu and English, both are recognized as the official languages. Economic structure of Pakistan is composed of two major sectors, i.e. agriculture sector (mostly in rural area) and industrial sector (mostly in urban centres and industrial states). Major Export oriented industries are textile, leather, carpet, supports and surgical instruments, that accounts an 80% of total exports. Among the agricultural raw products, the major export items are rice, cotton, citrus fruit, dates, mangoes and cane melons. In 2008-09, the major economic activity, based on the non-agricultural contribution to GDP, was industrial / manufacturing (18.2%), while the agricultural sector having contribution of 21.8% to the GDP. About 60-70% of industrial establishments in Pakistan are based on agricultural commodities such as food manufacturing, tobacco, textile, leather, footwear, cotton yarn, wood work, chemical, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural machinery, etc. Chemical Production, Import, Export and Use Pakistan’s total imports have exceeded US$ 10 billion out of which chemicals imports constitute approximately US$ 2 billion. Pakistan imports various chemicals in order for use in both agricultural and industrial area. According to the statistics in 2008, the importation of petroleum products was 9.03 million tons, ranked as the most abundant chemicals imported, followed by industrial chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides (agricultural, public health and consumer use) and consumer chemicals (pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and disinfectants) respectively. With respect to commercial energy used in Pakistan during 2007-08, petroleum products were still the most dominant, followed by natural gases, coal, and hydroelectric power. The major chemical wastes generated per year are industrial hazardous wastes, wastes from commerce & service, medical practice & laboratory, port & shipping, community and agriculture, iv respectively. The unattended chemical waste dumping sites scattered all over the country are a big health risk. Unfortunately, there are very few waste disposal/ treatment/recycling facilities in the country. The unchecked illegal traffic of banned chemicals especially pesticides through border movement especially in Balochistan is another issue of major concern The capacity for data gathering is inadequate. Absence of data related to different aspects of chemical life cycle. Centralized database is not present. The scope of data processed is too narrow. The quality of statistical data is very poor. Priority Concerns Related to Chemical Production, Import, Export and Use The priority areas of concern related to chemical production, import, export and use include the followings: - air pollution, pollution of inland waterways, marine pollution, groundwater pollution, soil contamination, shallow – well water pollution, hazardous waste treatment / disposal, occupational health (agricultural and