2 Mar 2005

Delegates from around the Pacific meet on implementation of Stockholm convention

2:18 pm on 2 March 2005

Delegates from 13 Pacific countries are meeting in New Zealand to discuss how to implement the Stockholm Convention on getting rid of highly toxic chemicals.

Representatives from Tonga, Niue, Samoa, Nauru, Kiribati and Vanuatu, among others, are in Wellington to attend a workshop on implementing the Stockholm guidelines.

The chemicals that countries are trying to get rid of include persistent organic pollutants, such as dioxins, DDT and dieldrin.

The chief executive of New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment, Barry Carbon, says there will be discussions on what new techniques and technologies each country is using.

"We'll be working our way through how do we implement this to make sure, as much as possible, that our people of today and our kids of tomorrow, are protected."

Barry Carbon, the chief executive of New Zealand's Ministry for the Environment.