Melina Dzajic Valjevac and Borislav Malinovic, experts of the BiH ESAP 2030+ project for the thematic area of chemical safety and noise, participated in a seminar organised at the end of June 2021 by the Faculty of Technology, University in Banja Luka.

The seminar is organised twice a year at the Faculty of Technology, University in Banja Luka, and covers topics that are considered to be continuous and mandatory training for advisors for chemicals.

In addition to the usual topics and workshops in the field of chemical safety, this time the BiH ESAP 2030+ project was presented at the seminar. In addition, the activities implemented so far on the realisation of the Environmental Action Plan, in the field of chemical safety, for the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Republic of Srpska (RS), the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Brcko District of BiH (BD BiH) were presented. In this way, advisors for chemicals were invited to get involved in the BiH ESAP 2030+ project’s consultation process by expressing interest and contributing to the development of chemical safety.

During the seminar, the main focus was on the envisaged measures, including legal regulations within the competence of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH. These measures refer to the import and use of chemicals that can be used to produce narcotics (precursors). Also, the establishment of the Poisoning Control Centre/Centres, the official help desk at the competent authority is one of the topics that attracted special attention of the participants.

The seminar was successfully organised, and a record number of attendees, a total of 151 advisors for chemicals from RS, FBiH and BD BiH tells us that the choice of topics was good. One of the conclusions of the seminar is that in the future, in addition to the representatives of the competent Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the RS Government, it is necessary to ensure the participation of the Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs of RS, who were present at this seminar. This will enable better communication between advisors for chemicals from the industry, the competent ministry and the administration responsible for supervision in the field of chemicals and biocides”, said Borislav Malinovic, BiH ESAP 2030+ expert in the thematic area of chemical safety.

The next seminar, which will cover some of the topics in the field of chemical safety, is planned for the fall of 2021.