Solomon Pavliashvili, the Georgian Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculturel leads the visit of the Georgian interagency delegation to United States of America. This delegation visited the United States State Department to identify capabilities for supporting the country in filed of safe chemical management.
Solomon Pavliashvili was accompanied by the delegation consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture Ministry of Interior, Minister of Foreign Affairs, State Security Service and the Caucasus Regional Center for Environmental Protection. It is to be added during the visit a meeting was held with Catherine Insley Deputy Secretary of State for International Security.
Speaking on the occasion Catherine Inslee said, “Georgia has made significant progress in terms of chemical safety in the past. The United States plans to continue supporting risk mitigation in this direction, which has never been more important than today”.
On the occasion, Solomon Pavliashvili said, “The United States of America is a strategic partner Georgia ,our government, within the framework of compliance with the criteria of EU ( European Union ) membership with the support of the State Department, continues to work actively to bring the framework of chemical substances closer to the systems of the EU and the United States of America”.
It is to be added that Members of the delegation discussed the current situation in the field of chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear threats with representatives of the State Department agencies working on the issues of chemical, radiation and nuclear hazards. Discussion was held on Georgia’s challenges, joint initiatives and future plans.
During the visit a discussion was held with the representative of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Deputy Assistant Head of Administration Clifford Villa. “For Georgia, as an active party in multilateral environmental agreements, it is very important, in the process of negotiations, to approach the position of the United States to support our country’s initiatives related to safe management of chemicals and waste,” added Solomon Pavliashvili.
Clifford Villa noted, “The United States has extensive experience and guidelines for preventing risks of chemical contamination and responding to such incidents, which the Georgian side can use to strengthen planned legislative and institutional capabilities in terms of preparedness and timely response to chemical hazards. The agency is ready to support Georgia’s Ministry of Environment and Agriculture in this direction”.
