Regional and bilateral cooperation

Content:

Ongoing development cooperation

Bilateral cooperation with Albania

The Swedish Chemicals Agency is since 2019 cooperating with the Ministry for Tourism and Environment in Albania, to establish chemicals control, develop the role and capacity of the authority and prepare the country for EU membership. The programme is a part of the Swedish Chemicals Agency´s development cooperation and is supported by Sida.

Read more about the cooperation with Albania.

Bilateral cooperation with Ukraine

The Swedish Chemicals Agency is conducting a pre-study for a future cooperation project with Ukraine to develop national chemical control in the country. The cooperation will support development and strengthening of the capacity of the Ukrainian Ministry of Environment and other authorities to work with chemical control and to prepare the country for EU membership.

Read more about the cooperation with Ukraine

Bilateral cooperation with Zambia

The Swedish Chemicals Agency is since August 2020 cooperating with Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). The programme is a part of the Swedish Chemicals Agency's development cooperation and is supported by Sida.

Read more about the cooperation with Zambia

Other ongoing bilateral cooperation

The government has allocated funds for bilateral cooperation with countries having significant impact on the global environment and/or the global environment and climate cooperation. Four Swedish authorities are participating in the bilateral cooperation projects: the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KEMI), the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water management (HaV), the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is deciding about the distribution of funds.

Read more about support for the cooperation with the strategic countries on the website of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency External link.

The Swedish Chemicals Agency is currently cooperating with, among others, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Several of the countries that we are cooperating with are now at a stage where they are developing new legislation or strategies for their chemicals control. We have conducted workshops for experts on ministries and authorities with the emphasis on giving advice on the structure and contents of the legislation and more specific topics such as register for chemicals, registration of pesticides, risk assessment and risk management and enforcement issues.

The activities are often linked to international conventions and agreements. We conduct seminars or arrange study visits in Sweden together with several of the countries, with the aim of sharing experiences of phasing out substances covered by the Stockholm Convention. There are similar activities regarding restriction of mercury in accordance with the Minamata Convention. We also have activities that contribute to the implementation of the global framework on chemicals. Sweden has been a driving force in the global process to increase information on the presence of hazardous substances in products, and this is a theme that is reflected in our contacts with countries that are major producers of chemicals and articles that are placed on the global market.

Previous collaborations

The Swedish Chemicals Agency has since the 1990s been cooperating with other countries regarding chemicals control. There have been different forms of cooperation with different types of financing, as described below.

Development cooperation

Some cooperation with other countries have been part of the Swedish development cooperation (development aid), conducted with funding from Sida. Apart from the countries listed below, the Swedish Chemicals Agency has also had some minor cooperation with other countries within the frame of the global programme, and between 2007 and 2018, the Swedish Chemicals Agency had a regional cooperation in South-East Asia.

Read more about the regional cooperation in South-East Asia.

EU Twinning

The Swedish Chemicals Agency has also cooperated with some countries within the frame of so called EU Twinning projects, funded by the EU. In these projects, authorities in EU member states are sharing knowledge and experiences with institutions in countries outside EU. The aim is to give support in their work to fulfil the criteria of EU membership or to facilitate cooperation between EU and the receiving country. The EU Twinning projects have been conducted with complementary funding from Sida.

Read more about EU Twinning on the website of the EU Commission External link.

TAIEX

EU can also fund more limited activities, to provide fast and efficient technical assistance. This instrument for support is called Technical Assistance Information Exchange (TAIEX). The aim is to contribute to the harmonisation with EU legislation in the EU Candidate countries and potential candidate countries, and an exchange of knowledge between the member states of EU and the EU neighbouring countries. TAIEX projects have been conducted with the complementary funding from Sida.

Read more about TAIEX on the website of the EU Commission External link.