The General Audit Office of the Nation (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) found that the Unit of Chemical Substances and Products (USPQ) did not take actions aimed to the elimination of PCBs, although Law No. 25,670 establishes that all equipment containing this chemical should be decontaminated before 2010.

The area in question is coordinating interventions that should do be carried out by the National Environmental Direction Authority on issues related to chemicals substances and products, and is responsible for the compliance with environmental conventions agreements subscribed by the country.

The Stockholm Convention, for example, establishes the elimination of the 12 most harmful substances, including the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), a toxic chemical that is usually found in electrical transformers and can cause severe damage to health, such as cancer or immunodeficiency. In this context, the USPQ conducted a preliminary inventory of PCB, within a project which had a budget of $ 556,800.

The inventory was limited to the electricity sector, where the highest percentage of PCB is found. The audit noted that gathering information was "partial" because it was not extended to all provinces and "were only considered some of the distribution companies."

In turn, within the same program, the USPQ conducted a preliminary inventory of obsolete pesticides (COP), that is, of those old, banned pesticides or unrecognizable. For that, it produced 2,500 surveys, of which "they were disregarded 130 and only 74 were taken as valid." Given this, the AGN warned that "the information gathered was limited" and stressed "the low level of confidence (of the data) due to the methodology used."

The inventory showed "a total of 62 reservoirs and 34 containers contaminated with COP" and found that "there are contaminated sites in 13 provinces." According to the WHO, annually there are 2 million people poisoned directly or indirectly by pesticide exposure.
According to the report, adopted last year on data for the period 2002-2007, the USPQ was created "in facts". That is why, precisely, the AGN says it is "difficult to promote a state policy" that addresses environmental issues, without "a legal tool to determine their functions and budget to address them."

Moreover, the Unit "has no record of all export notifications received," says the report, although the Rotterdam Convention, which promotes responsibility in international trade in hazardous chemicals products, states that "this notice must inform product characteristic "as to whether it is banned or severely restricted.

Finally, the audit concludes its report stating that "there were no evident actions to obtain financing" for the following programs:

• National Program for Rational Environmental Minimization and Elimination of PCB and contaminated material. (In relation to this point, Law No. 25,670 established that all devices containing PCB should be decontaminated by 2010).

• Program Management of Unintentional Emissions.

• Integration Program for the Management of Chemical Substances and Products.

• Exchange Program, information dissemination, Awareness - Training and Agreement.

• Rational Environmental Management of Pesticides Program.