Description Of The Rotterdam Convention On The Prior Informed Consent Procedure For Certain Hazardous Chemicals And Pesticides In International Trade

Gero Vaagt, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy
E-mail: Gero.Vaagt@fao.org

Abstract

The Rotterdam Convention was adopted on 10 September 1998. As of 16 June 2003 there were 44 Parties to the Convention. It will enter into force 90 days after deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification. The objectives of the Convention are: (i) to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm; and (ii) to contribute to the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals, by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by disseminating these decisions to Parties. The Convention creates legally binding obligations. It builds on the existing voluntary PIC procedure, operated by UNEP and FAO since 1989. The Convention establishes the principle that export of a chemical covered by the Convention can only take place with the “prior informed consent” of the importing party. The Convention establishes a means for formally obtaining and disseminating the decisions of importing countries as to whether they wish to receive future shipments of specified chemicals and for ensuring compliance with these decisions by exporting countries. The Convention also contains provisions for the exchange of information among Parties about potentially hazardous chemicals that may be exported and imported. The Convention covers pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons. . Severely hazardous pesticide formulations that present a hazard under conditions of use in developing countries or countries with economies in transition may also be nominated for inclusion in the procedure. The Convention initially covers 22 pesticides (including five severely hazardous pesticide formulations) and 5 industrial chemicals. Five pesticides have been added during the interim period, and many more are expected to be added in the future. Once a chemical is included in the PIC procedure, a “decision guidance document” (DGD) is circulated to participating countries, who are then given nine months to prepare a response concerning the future import of the chemical. The decisions of the importing countries are circulated and exporting country Parties are obligated under the Convention to take appropriate measure to ensure that exporters within its jurisdiction comply with the decisions. The Convention provides for the exchange of information concerning: (i) national bans or severe restrictions of a chemical; (ii) problems caused by a severely hazardous pesticide formulation under conditions of use; (iii) exports of banned or severely restricted chemicals; (iv) safety data sheet when exporting chemicals that are to be used for occupational purposes; (v) specific labeling for exports of chemicals included in the PIC procedure, as well as for other chemicals that are banned or severely restricted in the exporting country. Parties also agree to cooperate in promoting technical assistance to enable countries to develop the capacity and infrastructure to implement the Convention. The Convention also establishes a Secretariat, whose functions are to be performed jointly by UNEP and FAO