Multilateral Environmental Agreements

Rotterdam Convention

History
Overview
How the Convention Works
Addition of Chemicals to the PIC Procedure
How the PIC Procedure Works
Domestic Regulations to Implement the Rotterdam Convention
Appendix A    Chemicals currently subject to the PIC procedure

History

With some 75 000 different chemicals on the market and 1 500 new ones being introduced every year, it is difficult for governments to monitor and manage the many potentially dangerous substances crossing the borders every day. The growth in world trade in chemicals also led to increasing concerns about the risks associated with their improper use, particularly in developing countries.

Governments started to address these problems in the mid-1980s by developing and promoting voluntary information exchange programs. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched its International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides in 1985, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) set up the London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on Chemicals in International Trade in 1987. In 1989, the two organizations jointly introduced the voluntary prior informed consent (PIC) procedure.

Seeing the need for mandatory controls, officials attending the 1992 Rio Earth Summit adopted Chapter 19 of Agenda 21, which calls for the adoption of a legally binding instrument on the PIC procedure by the year 2000. Consequently, the FAO council (in 1994) and the UNEP Governing Council (in 1995) mandated their executive heads to launch negotiations. The talks started in March 1996 and concluded in March 1998 by finalizing the text of the Rotterdam Convention. The Convention was adopted at a Diplomatic Conference in Rotterdam on 10 September 1998. The Conference also adopted a resolution on interim arrangements for the Convention.

Canada became a party to the Convention in 2002. The requirement to have a minimum of 50 countries becoming a Party for the Convention to enter into force was recently met. The official entry into force of the Convention is February 24, 2004.

Overview

The core of the Rotterdam Convention is information exchange, which has two main components: a legally binding PIC procedure and an information exchange procedure. The PIC procedure is 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.

At the time the Convention was adopted in September 1998, 17 pesticides, 5 severely hazardous pesticide formulations and 5 industrial chemicals were included in Annex III (Chemicals Subject to the Prior Informed Consent Procedure) of the Convention. Other substances have been added since, and the PIC procedure currently applies to 24 pesticides, 6 severely hazardous pesticide formulations and 11 industrial chemicals (see Appendix A for list of chemicals).

Under the information exchange procedure, Parties are required to inform other Parties of each ban or severe restriction on a chemical it implements nationally. Further, a Party that plans to export a chemical that is banned or severely restricted for use within its territory, must inform the importing Party that such export will take place. This component of the Convention does not involve any action from exporters, only from governments.

How the Convention Works

The Convention establishes a Conference of the Parties (COP) to oversee implementation of the Convention. The COP is the governing body of the Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings. The Convention also provides for the establishment of a subsidiary body, the Chemical Review Committee (CRC). The CRC is a group of government-designated experts from various participating countries. The CRC is responsible for making recommendations and assessing whether additional banned or severely restricted chemicals should be made subject to the PIC Procedure. Non-Party as well as accredited non-governmental organisations, and inter-governmental organisations are invited to participate as observers to the CRC and COP meetings.

In order to participate in the PIC and information exchange procedures, Governments must nominate a Designated National Authority¹ (DNA) to act as a national focal point. Canada has two designated national authorities, represented by Environment Canada for industrial chemicals and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency for pesticides. The DNA is responsible for the performance of the administrative functions required by the Convention, including the operation of the PIC and information exchange procedures at the national level, i.e. collecting and providing national information to FAO, UNEP and other countries and ensuring that the information received is transmitted to all relevant authorities and organizations in the country.

DNAs have to report to the Secretariat all final regulatory actions to ban or severely restrict the use of a chemical for health or environmental reasons. The purpose of providing information on national regulatory actions is two-fold:

1. These notifications form the basis for identifying chemicals to be considered for inclusion in the PIC procedure.
2. As part of the information exchange procedure, to inform all countries of regulatory actions taken by a given country to ban or severely restrict a chemical. This information is disseminated via the PIC Circular.

When a country takes regulatory actions on a chemical, it must notify importing countries of the planned export of the substance and provide information related to the risks and safe use. Such export notification, which is also part of the information exchange procedure, is to be sent before the first shipment and annually thereafter (once a chemical is included in the PIC procedure, this obligation ceases).

¹ The DNA is generally a government department or office responsible for broad policy decisions with the authority to indicate which chemicals are subject to regulatory action in the country.

Addition of Chemicals to the PIC Procedure

All Parties have to notify the Secretariat of the Convention when they take final regulatory actions to ban or severely restrict the use of a chemical for health or environmental reasons. The Secretariat keeps a list of chemicals that are banned or severely restricted by Parties. The process to consider the addition of a chemical to the PIC procedure is initiated when the Secretariat receives notification for the chemical by two Parties, each from a different region of the Convention (the Convention divides the Parties into seven regions).

Once a chemical has been nominated for consideration for inclusion in the PIC procedure, the notifications are submitted to the CRC. The Committee must determine whether the notifications meet the criteria of the Convention under Annex I (Information Requirements for Notifications Made Pursuant to Article 5) and Annex II (Criteria for Listing or Severely Restricted Chemicals in Annex III), and if so prepares a Decision Guidance Document (DGD).

The Chemical Review Committee prepares its recommendations for the Conference of the Parties to consider whether the chemical should be added to the PIC procedure. It is the Parties that make the final decision to add a chemical to the list of substances subject to the PIC procedure, on a consensus basis. Consensus exists when no Party present at a COP meeting formally objects to the proposed listing.

Chemicals can be listed in Annex III (Chemicals Subject to the Prior Informed Consent Procedure) of the Convention in the use categories of either industrial chemicals or pesticides, or in both categories. If a chemical has both industrial and pesticide use, it will only fall under the PIC procedure for the use category(ies) for which it is listed.

Chemicals can be removed from Annex III, and therefore no longer be subject to the PIC procedure, if new information indicates that the listing may no longer be justified. The process for removing a chemical is essentially the same as for adding a chemical. Cyhexatin was originally included in the original voluntary PIC procedure in 1991 because it was banned or severely restricted in 5 countries. Two manufacturers producing this substance developed additional data on its toxicity. As some governments reinstated its use based on the new information, cyhexatin was removed from the voluntary PIC procedure.

How the PIC Procedure Works

The PIC procedure is initiated when the "decision guidance document" (DGD) is circulated to DNAs of all participating countries. DNAs then have nine months to prepare a response concerning the future import of the chemical and forward to the Secretariat.

The DGD contains information concerning the chemical and the regulatory decisions that were taken to ban or severely restrict the chemical. It is intended to help governments assess the risks associated with the handling and use of the chemical and make more informed decisions about future import and use of the chemical, taking into account local conditions of use. The DGD is also posted on the Convention web site. As well, countries are invited to post additional information on the Convention web site with respect to substances listed under the PIC procedure.

In completing the Importing Country Response form countries decide whether to accept import, refuse import or allow import under certain conditions. It is also possible to make an interim decision regarding import with a request for additional time, technical assistance, or further information. Import decisions taken by countries must be transparent and consistent; that is to say that the decision not to consent to accept imports of a specific chemical must apply to all countries, whether or not they participate to the Convention. As well, the country must also stop production of the chemical for domestic use and have in place domestic legislative or administrative measures prohibiting the chemical. These import decisions are summarized by the secretariat and a compilation of importing country responses is distributed to DNAs every six months (June and December of each year) via the PIC Circular.

The Convention contains provisions to be followed in the absence of an import response by a Party. For one year, countries can export to Parties that have failed to provide an import response under the following conditions only:

• a chemical that is registered in the importing country;
• a chemical that has previously been used in, or imported into, the importing country and for which there is no regulatory action to prohibit its use; or
• a chemical for which the exporter has obtained explicit consent from the DNA in the importing country.

If an import response still has not been provided after the one year period, then exports to that Party can take place without any conditions. Figure 1 shows the timeline starting when the DGD is distributed to the Parties.

Domestic Regulations to Implement the Rotterdam Convention

To meet its obligations under the Convention, Canada has developed the Export of Substances Under the Rotterdam Convention Regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. The Regulations can be found at the following web site address:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/CEPARegistry/regulations/DetailReg.cfm?intReg=69&x;=9&y;=8

When a substance becomes subject to the PIC procedure, Canadian exporters become subject to the provisions of these Regulations, and hence are required:

• To apply for a permit to export the substance to countries that are Parties to the Convention. A permit is issued if the importing country accepts those imports. The export permit incorporates any conditions included in the importing country’s consent.
• To carry liability insurance for each shipment of PIC substances.
• To provide health and environmental information with each shipment, such as material safety data sheets and labels.
• To take back shipments when conditions of the permit have been violated.

The regulations apply to all PIC substances.

Figure 1 - Timelines under the Rotterdam Convention

Click to view larger image.

Appendix A    Chemicals currently subject to the PIC procedure