ASEAN Secretariat - Asean Secretariat, Jakarta, 10 June - The Governments of the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed today the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. The Haze Agreement is the first such regional arrangement in the world, which binds a group of contiguous states to tackle transboundary haze pollution resulting from land and forest fires.

The Haze Agreement, signed by the ASEAN Environment Ministers, provides a legal basis for the ongoing activities of the Regional Haze Action Plan (RHAP) to deal with haze arising from land and forest fires in the region. These include timely and more accurate weather forecast and early warning measures, strict enforcement of existing laws and enactment of new laws to regulate open burning, training of prosecution and law enforcement officers, development of preventive tools such as GIS database and fire danger rating systems, information management through the ASEAN Haze Action On-line website, and mitigation efforts in member countries.

The Agreement obligates member countries to (1) co-operate in developing and implementing measures to prevent, monitor, and mitigate transboundary haze pollution by controlling sources of land and/or forest fires, establishment of early warning systems, exchange of information and technology, and the provision of mutual assistance; (2) respond promptly to a request for relevant information sought by a state or states that are or may be affected by such transboundary haze pollution when the transboundary haze pollution originates from within their territories; and (3) take legal, administrative and/ or other measures to implement their obligations under the Agreement.

The signatory states shall also facilitate the transit through their respective territories of duly notified personnel, equipment and materials involved or used in firefighting, search and rescue and other activities requested by a third Party.

The Haze Agreement provides for the establishment of an Asean Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control to facilitate cooperation and coordination in managing the impact of land and forest fires, in particular haze pollution arising from such fires.

The Agreement was negotiated from March to September 2001. Such speedy conclusion of a regional legal instrument is testimony to ASEAN�s resolve to deal with regional problems constructively, no matter how complex it may be.

ASEAN expressed deep appreciation to the financial, legal and technical expertise provided by the United Nations Environment Programme and financial support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation for the negotiation of this Agreement.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is composed of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam.