WASHINGTON, DC ? The International Paint & Printing Ink Council (IPPIC) is working with the UN’s Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (GAELP) to promote the establishment of appropriate national regulatory frameworks to stop the manufacture, import, export, sale, and use of lead paints and products coated with lead paints. The council also supports the activities undertaken by GAELP participants and other interested parties during the “International Week of Action on Prevention of Lead Poisoning,” held October 19-25, 2014.

IPPIC representatives recently attended and presented at the first GAELP workshop aimed at encouraging countries to establish and implement legal limits on lead in new residential and decorative paint. The workshop was held in New Delhi, India, on September 22-23, and brought together representatives from 27 governments at the World Health Organization (WHO) Southeast Asia Regional Office. In addition to governments, representatives of inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia and the private sector attended and presented at the workshop.

IPPIC’s support for the GAELP focuses on key initiatives that align with IPPIC’s own 2009 resolution on lead in paint and are integrated into the GAELP’s Business Plan, including:

• providing information on existing national, provincial, state, and local regulations and legislation limiting lead concentrations in paints and current labeling practices for paint containing lead;
• outreach assistance to industry (especially Small and Medium Enterprises or SMEs) to provide technical support for eliminating lead use in decorative paints; and
• support for establishing national regulations, specifically for developing countries seeking to enact comprehensive laws to phase out lead use in decorative paints and for other uses that contribute to childhood exposure.

IPPIC members continue to acknowledge and conform to legislative and regulatory restrictions on lead in paint. Working in concert with other GAELP participants and interested governments, IPPIC and its member associations anticipate the advancement of restrictions on lead in paint throughout the world.

IPPIC is comprised of paint and printing ink trade associations representing Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, Mexico and the United States. IPPIC provides a forum for information exchange and cooperation on the major issues and priorities facing the paint and printing ink industries worldwide. For information about IPPIC and the activities it is involved in on behalf of the global paint and coatings industry, visit www.ippic.org.