<p>The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) is an international framework on sound chemicals management with the objective that “by the year 2020, chemicals are produced and used in ways that minimize significant adverse impacts on the environment and human health”. SAICM was adopted at the International Conference on Chemicals Management in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in February 2006. To prepare countries to be able to implement SAICM the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is currently running Pilot Projects in three developing countries and one county with economy in transition: Belarus, Pakistan, Tanzania and Panama. Between October and December 2007 we were doing a Minor Field Study in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, interviewing people involved in the implementation of their Pilot Project which is running from 2006-2009. Our paper consists of two parts, one descriptive and one analysing. In the first part we describe the initiation, the formulation, the implementation and the evaluation of SAICM and the Pilot Project in Tanzania and in the second part we analyse opportunities and hindrances for a successful implementation of the Pilot Project and SAICM in Tanzania. How is the UN governing the implementation, what resources of finances, knowledge, institutions and time does Tanzania have and how is the implementation influenced by different actors interests? We argue that the there is mixture of the top-down and the bottom-up models and that this mixture is fruitful, we argue that Tanzania has enough finances, knowledge and time to implement SAICM but lack institutions, and finally that the different interests are not too various to harm the process.</p>

The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) is an international framework on sound chemicals management with the objective that “by the year 2020, chemicals are produced and used in ways that minimize significant adverse impacts on the environment and human health”. SAICM was adopted at the International Conference on Chemicals Management in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in February 2006. To prepare countries to be able to implement SAICM the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is currently running Pilot Projects in three developing countries and one county with economy in transition: Belarus, Pakistan, Tanzania and Panama. Between October and December 2007 we were doing a Minor Field Study in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, interviewing people involved in the implementation of their Pilot Project which is running from 2006-2009. Our paper consists of two parts, one descriptive and one analysing. In the first part we describe the initiation, the formulation, the implementation and the evaluation of SAICM and the Pilot Project in Tanzania and in the second part we analyse opportunities and hindrances for a successful implementation of the Pilot Project and SAICM in Tanzania. How is the UN governing the implementation, what resources of finances, knowledge, institutions and time does Tanzania have and how is the implementation influenced by different actors interests? We argue that the there is mixture of the top-down and the bottom-up models and that this mixture is fruitful, we argue that Tanzania has enough finances, knowledge and time to implement SAICM but lack institutions, and finally that the different interests are not too various to harm the process.