REGULATORS' WORKSHOP
March 8, 2002
WORKSHOP 6
SMART Regulatory Approaches for the 21st Century
OR
How government regulations interface with voluntary initiatives
to improve the environmental performance of the mining sector
Description
Following the January 2000 Baia Mare cyanide tailings
accident, UNEP's accident prevention initiatives expanded and became
more prominent. One of the new initiatives was the first international
workshop of mining regulators. Jointly hosted by the Government of
Australia and UNEP, participants from seventeen countries compared
experiences and discussed actions to improve environmental safety
in mining. The report is available on www.mineralresourcesforum.org.
A second action in response to of the Baia Mare accident
was the development of a multistakeholder process to develop an International
Cyanide Management Code for the Manufacture, Transport and Use of
Cyanide in Gold Mining. Initiated by UNEP and ICME, and developed
with the support of the gold mining industry through an international
multistakeholder committee, this Code will be launched at the World
Mining Ministries Forum, 14 March 2002 in Toronto.
With the growing number of voluntary industry codes
in the world today, one question to be addressed is how these can
be incorporated into government procedures. The use of government
resources to monitor industry's compliance to regulations and increasing
public concern about environmental stewardship makes the interface
between voluntary codes and regulatory standards an important topic
for discussion. The dialogue will focus on the new cyanide code, and
how government policy and regulations can complement and use initiatives
such as the Code.
Friday, March 15, 2002 - 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Mine Regulators Workshop
Chair and Moderator: Mr. Gavin Murray, IFC
All sessions are intended to be interactive, starting
with a presentation and then questions and discussion
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8:30-9:15
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Leveraging voluntary initiatives to benefit the environment:
Lessons Learnt from the Accelerated Reduction and Elimination
of Toxics (ARET) Initiative
Patrick Finlay, Chief, Minerals and Metals Division, Environment
Canada - Slide
Presentation 
(152 KB)
|
|
9:15-10:15
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Presentation of the new International Cyanide Management Code
for the Manufacture, Transport and Use of cyanide in the Production
of Gold
Harold Barnes, Vice President, Homestake and Chair of Multistakeholder
Code Steering Committee - Slide
Presentation
(1.1 MB)
|
|
10:30-12:30
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Panel Discussion - Viewpoints on how Voluntary Codes interface
with Regulatory Systems
-
Africa Perspective - Mavis Hermanus, Government of South
Africa
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Australian
Perspective - Dr. Lynton Jaques, Government of Australia
(20 KB)
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Latin American Perspective - Roberto Sarudiansky, Government
of Argentina -
Slide Presentation
(28 KB)
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NGO Perspective - Glenda Ferris, British Columbia and
Northern Ecology Action Committee
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12:30-14:00
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Lunch and WMMF Plenary
Lunch Sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development
and Mines
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14:15-17:00
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Government Regulators (governments only meeting) - Round Table
Discussion
Co-Chairs: Gavin Murray (IFC) and Wanda Hoskin (UNEP)
- Slide Presentation
(1.2 MB)
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Strategic Options - how best to use voluntary initiatives
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What related training is needed (eg of government inspectors)?
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What regional or international support is needed to facilitate
implementation of the cyanide code in individual countries?
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Future Directions for the international network of government
regulators.
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Discussion of next meeting
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Agenda in PDF is available (workshop
outline6.pdf
21 KB).
Available Document: THE
OPTIMAL POLICY MIX - Matching Ends and Means in Environmental Policy
Making
(169 KB) The Conference Board of Canada
