Rotterdam Convention

Rotterdam Convention

Subject :Environment

• The Convention creates legally binding obligations for the implementation of the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure.
• It was built on the voluntary PIC procedure, initiated by UNEP and FAO in 1989 and ceased on 24 February 2006.
• The main objectives of the Rotterdam Convention are as under
  • 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;
  • 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 promotes the exchange of information on a very broad range of chemicals. It does so through:
  • the requirement for a Party to inform other Parties of each national ban or severe restriction of a chemical;
  • the possibility for the Party which is a developing country or a country in transition to inform other Parties that it is experiencing problems caused by a severely hazardous pesticide formulation under conditions of use in its territory;
  • the requirement for a Party that plans to export a chemical that is banned or severely restricted for use within its territory, to inform the importing Party that such export will take place, before the first shipment and annually thereafter;
  • the requirement for an exporting Party, when exporting chemicals that are to be used for occupational purposes, to ensure that an up-to-date safety data sheet is sent to the importer; and labelling requirements 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.

Green customs related articles in the convention on hazardous substances