As part of a project on "Regionally Based Assessment of Persistent Toxic Substances", the experts from Central and North East Asia selected Dioxin, PCBs, and other Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS), as the substances which should be managed as the priority toxic substances. The selection was made from series discussions and data collected from technical workshops and regional team meetings with various NGOs, policy makers, regional experts and industries participating.

"The Regionally Based Assessment of Persistent Toxic Substances" is a project focused on making regional assessments of the damages and threats posed by Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS) across the globe. The Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in conjunction with several donor states, and being implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP Chemicals), divides the globe into 12 regions with the assessment producing 12 Regional Reports. Korea is part of the VII Central and North East Asia (Western North Pacific) Region.

The countries in Region VII which participated in this project include China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The final form of the Regional Report will be submitted to the UNEP, to be used as basic data to develop a comprehensive report and provide guidance for further action.

To view the project description and access the relating documents, click on the website (www.chem.unep.ch/pts)