Brussels, 11/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 10 May in Brussels, the European Parliament won a comfortable majority (563 votes in favour, 16 against, with 30 abstentions) on toughening up rules governing future European Union exports of hazardous chemical products.
Following the line of its rapporteur, Dan Jorgensen (S&D, Denmark), MEPs introduced a new stricter EU draft regulation that goes even further than the UN Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (Rotterdam Convention), given that it provides improved protection to importer countries.
The Parliament has approved, in a first reading, the amendments already negotiated with the Council of the EU stipulating that if a country of destination does not respond to an EU request within 60 days for the country's prior consent to this kind of import, the EU will not be allowed to export unless the chemical product is licensed, registered or authorised in the country of destination.
If this is not the case and the country responds within the given deadline (which according to the European Commission occurs in 30% of cases), three conditions will have to be met so that the export can go ahead legally in a temporary capacity, namely: - formal proof will have to be provided that over the last five years, the chemical product in question has been imported for use in the destination country; - there must be no ban or any kind of restriction on the chemical product in the destination country of the product; - the chemical product is not included on the Rotterdam Convention blacklist or the EU's complimentary blacklist banning the use to which the product is intended.
Jorgensen was delighted with the plenary vote and said that the “the Commission proposal had left an enormous loophole for exports of hazardous products to third countries without their consent. The EU is obliged to behave responsibly when chemical products that can have fatal consequences are involved.”
The Rotterdam Convention entered into force on 24 February 2004 and encourages pooled responsibility and co-operation between the different parties. (AN/transl.fl)