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 CITEL
shall be organizing a workshop in San Salvador aimed at examining the
impacts stemming from non-ionizing electromagnetic emissions.
The growing
installation of wireless systems in the Americas has led to increased
public concern; governments must therefore consider conducting
rigorous scientific studies to avoid any uncertainty and make it
possible to take sustainable decisions to protect public health and
maintain clear communication between citizens, providers and
authorities.
This situation is
being experienced by Central America and the Caribbean; as a result,
bearing in mind the success of the workshop held by the Inter-American
Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Organization of American
States in Lima, Peru with the attendance of important specialists on
the subject, regulators from the region, mayors and municipal
authorities, the VII Meeting of Permanent Consultative Committee II:
Radiocommunications of this body of the OAS has decided to hold a new
workshop for the region of Central America and the Caribbean.
The Workshop shall
take place on April 16, 2007 at the Hotel Radisson Plaza,
San Salvador, El Salvador.
On this occasion, the
Organization shall hold this event jointly with the Telecommunications
Commission of Central America (Comisión de Telecomunicaciones de
Centroamérica—COMTELCA), the ITU through its Centre of Excellence for
the Americas Region, and the General Superintendency of Electricity
and Telecommunications (Superintendencia General de Electricidad y
Telecomunicaciones—SIGET) of El Salvador.
The event shall be
attended by topic specialists such as Emilie van Deventer of the World
Health Organization (WHO); Paolo Vecchia, Chair of the International
Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP); Ronald C.
Petersen of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC); Dr.
C-K. Chou of the IEEE; and Víctor Cruz, advisor to the International
Electromagnetic Fields Project of the National Institute for
Telecommunication Research and Training (INICTEL) of Peru; as well as
regulators such as Jean-Claude Brien of Industry Canada and Saúl
Vázquez, Telecommunications Manager of SIGET.
The private sector
shall be contributing its vision through the Mobile Manufacturers
Forum (MMF) of the Wi-Fi Alliance, the Chamber of Information and
Communications of Argentina (CICOMRA), and the providers of solutions
for radiation control such as Wave Control and CPqD.
From theory to
action
The countries, through
their regulatory bodies, provide their own standards for exposure to
electromagnetic fields (EMF). Most of them are based on the
recommendations established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing
Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), formally recognized by the World Health
Organization (WHO).
Since many countries
in the Americas are in the process of drawing up their respective
standards, CITEL’s Permanent Consultative Committee II, through the
Working Group on Technical and Regulatory Aspects of the Effects of
NIR, is organizing the above-mentioned workshop as a support to the
countries and at which the results of the work of this working group
shall be presented with the distribution of a DVD that compiles its
work.
CITEL’s goal is to
cooperate with those countries that have not as yet drawn up standards
regulating the emission of non-ionizing radiation and have therefore
not established control methods to check compliance with the limits
established by the World Health Organization by the operator companies
of these wireless systems.
Considering that
CITEL’s mission is to facilitate and promote the harmonious and
integral development of telecommunications in the Americas and that
its vision is to “to be a high-level, expeditious, dynamic, and
effective advisory specialized organization that promotes the ongoing
exchange of experience, information, and knowledge among governments
and the private sector, and develops reference guidelines to assist
Member States in achieving their objectives for access to
telecommunications, including information and communication
technologies, fostering the development of the region” and that
its objectives include, among others, that of “promoting and
studying technical assistance, as agreed upon with the governments of
the respective countries,” CITEL, for the purpose of shifting into
action in the region, issued Resolution CCP.II/RES. 32 (VII-06),
which makes the Working Group on NIR available to the
administrations that are in the process of drawing up their regulatory
framework and need CITEL’s advisory services.
CITEL is therefore
striving to provide regulators with the tools they need to draw up
norms and standards on exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and
the general public with information that might facilitate
communication and understanding about the new technologies that are
exerting an impact on our quality of life, making it possible to
evaluate transparently their possible effects on health so as to
develop networks without affecting health, thus improving our quality
of life and ensuring responsible environmental protection.
Héctor
Mario Carril
Rapporteur of the Working Group
Coordinator of the Workshop
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Información adicional: Please click
here to download the draft calendar of the Workshop to be held
on April 16 in San Salvador,
El Salvador.
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