Brussels, 06/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - As we announced yesterday, in Strasbourg on Tuesday the European Commission adopted the text that it is to present to the Council to secure ratification, on behalf of the Community, of the Rotterdam Convention relating to the international trade in certain hazardous chemicals, as well as a draft implementing regulation for the Convention to facilitate its implementation in the Union.
The Rotterdam Convention is an international agreement aimed, on the one hand, at establishing a system of information exchange between all parties concerning all national regulatory measures adopted for a chemical product targeted by the Convention (26 pesticides and 5 dangerous products or groups of products), and, on the other, establishing between export countries and nay country of destination, a compulsory information procedure on these products by which the latter may be exported if and only if the country of destination has previously provided its duly well-informed consent. In virtue of this binding procedure, so-called "prior informed consent", all countries will have the right to demand of exporter countries information they need to decide whether to accept the import of these dangerous products or, on the contrary, refuse if they are not able to manage them in all security - a particularly pertinent guarantee for the protection of human health and the environment in developing countries.
The Convention also encourages sharing the burden of responsibility and co-operation between parties so as to ensure the correct management of the risks and contribute to the proper use of the products.
The draft decision submitted to the Council for approval for the ratification of the Convention aims to accelerate entry into force of the text, adopted in Rotterdam in September 1998, signed by 73 parties (including all Member States and the Commission) but only ratified by 18 parties, whereas 50 parties need to ratify it for the text to be implemented.
The draft implementing regulation aims to amend Community legislation (Council Regulation 2455/92) which transposed into Community legislation the non-binding informed consent procedure, currently in force in the framework of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The amendments required to transpose the Rotterdam Convention concern the timing and frequency of prior export notifications, as well as the amount of information demanded, and the introduction of provisions relating to technical assistance to provide developing countries to help them develop their infrastructure and capacity to manage chemicals. But the Commission intends going further than the Convention's provisions. The draft new regulation also contains: - an extension of the scope of the export notification requirements to a wider range of chemicals; - requiring explicit consent of the importing party for chemicals that are banned or severely restricted in the Community before export can take place; - requiring all dangerous chemicals to be appropriately labelled when exported.
These additional requirements are authorised in the Rotterdam Convention, which grants parties the right to adopt more stringent measures, as long as they are compatible with the provisions of the Convention and comply with international law.