The 7th meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC) was held in Rome 28 March-1 April 2011 and recommended the listing of chemicals in Annex III of the Convention for which draft Decision Guidance Documents (DGDs) are being prepared. A DGD contains relevant information on a particular chemical and accompanies the chemical recommended for listing to support Parties to make an informed decision on whether to accept trade on the chemical. Draft DGDs are being prepared for the following chemicals recommended for listing by the CRC:

Draft DGDs for Industrial chemicals:

• PFOS, its salts and its precursor PFOSF
• Pentabromodiphenyl ether commercial mixtures: TetraBDE and pentaBDE;
• Octabromodiphenyl ether commercial mixtures: HexaBDE, heptaBDE, octaBDE, nonaBDE, and decaBDE;

Draft DGD for a severely hazardous pesticide formulation:

• Paraquat dichloride (formulated as emulsifiable concentrate of 276 g active ingredient/L or above, corresponding to paraquation at or above 200 g/L) (Gramoxone super).

Drafting Groups comprised of members of the CRC were established at the seventh meeting of the committee for each of these chemicals and have been preparing draft DGDs since April 2011. Their final drafts will be distributed as meeting documents for discussion at the eighth CRC meeting to be held in March 2012 for finalization and approval.

The CRC will then forward the recommendations and the accompanying draft DGDs to the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties in 2013 for its decision on whether to list these chemicals in Annex III of the Convention.

For more information on the process for drafting DGDs, please click here.
For a report of the 7th meeting of the CRC, please click here.

Honduras ratified the Rotterdam Convention on 26 September, 2011. All Spanish-speaking countries in Central America are now party to all three global chemicals and waste related conventions - the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. This is a clear sign of commitment by the countries of the region to protect human health and the environment from the harmful impacts of hazardous chemicals, pesticides and wastes.

The 5th Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (COP 5) unanimously agreed to list the pesticides alachlor, aldicarb and endosulfan in Annex III to the Convention, thus making them subject to the so-called PIC procedure.

According to decisions RC-5/3, RC-5/4 and RC-5/5, this will enter into force on 24 October 2011.

The Decision Guidance Documents approved for each of the three pesticides will then be circulated by the Secretariat to the Designated National Authorities (DNAs) of all Parties. According to Article 10 of the Convention, Parties shall then submit an import response, within nine months at the latest.

The Secretariat will inform all Parties of the import responses received through the PIC Circular, which is published every six months. The obligations in relation to the export of Annex III chemicals are set out in Article 11 ofthe Convention, including the timeline.

Click here for DGDs on Alachlor, Aldicarb and Endosulfan & submission of IRs

The 5th Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (COP 5) unanimously agreed to list the three pesticides alachlor, aldicarb and endosulfan in Annex III to the Convention, thus making them subject to the so called PIC procedure. This is the first time a Rotterdam COP has agreed to list as many as three pesticides in one session. The PIC procedure is NOT a signal of intent to ban a pesticide globally, but rather a mechanism for formally obtaining and disseminating the decisions of importing Parties as to whether they wish to receive future shipments of those chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention and for ensuring compliance with these decisions by exporting Parties.

Why is this necessary?

Used strictly according to label instructions, pesticides can help to protect food and other crops from damage by pests and diseases, and can also protect human and livestock health from vector-borne diseases. Pesticides are intended to kill, for example, weeds, insects or other damaging organisms, but can also negatively affect human health and the environment.

If a country, which is party to the convention, decides to nationally ban or severely restrict a chemical due to its unacceptable risk for human health or the environment, it has to submit notifications to the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat of this final regulatory action.

The European Community and Canada did so for alachlor, a herbicide for control of annual grasses and small weed broadleaf species. Alachlor poses an unacceptable risk to operators and is very toxic for aquatic organisms.

The European Community and Jamaica notified the Secretariat of the ban of aldicarb, an insecticide, nematicide and acaricide used for controlling a wide range of insects, nematodes and aphids over a wide range of crops. Aldicarb is very toxic to people by inhalation, if swallowed, or in contact with skin. The pesticide is also very toxic to birds and mammals, non-target arthropods and aquatic organisms and can cause long term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.

Notifications for endosulfan have been received by the European Community, the Netherlands, Thailand and seven African countries. Endosulfan is an insecticide used against a variety of insects on fruits, vegetables, arable agriculture, and ornamentals. It is very toxic to fish and aquatic organisms and thus can cause serious environmental problems.

What will happen now?

With the inclusion of these three pesticides, all parties, in particular developing countries and countries with an economy in transition will now benefit from the provision of specific information on risks of these hazardous pesticides in international trade which allow them to take informed decisions concerning future imports (Import Responses Form).

UN adds three pesticides to ‘Prior Informed Consent’ procedure to protect health and the environment against hazardous chemicals in international trade

Geneva, 27 June 2011 – Parties to a global treaty supporting information exchange in international trade of hazardous chemicals have acted to strengthen protection of human health and the environment by expanding the exchange of critical safety information between exporting and importing States.  Agreement was reached on Friday, 24 June 2011, at the conclusion of a week-long meeting held in Geneva.

The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade agreed by consensus to add three pesticides, alachlor, aldicarb and endosulfan, to Annex III of the Convention. Listing in Annex III triggers an exchange of information between Parties and helps countries make informed decisions about future import and use of the chemicals.  

“The agreement on listing endosulfan coupled with decisions to strengthen technical assistance and synergies taken by the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention demonstrate that increasing cooperation between the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions is yielding a rich harvest of benefits to countries by the protection of public health and the environment globally,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director. 

Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants agreed earlier this year to eliminate endosulfan from production and use globally.

The decisions to list three chemicals were among 12 separate decisions adopted at the conference aimed at strengthening the globe’s first line of defence for chemical safety.

Amendments to the Convention bringing the three new chemicals under the Prior Informed Consent procedure will enter into force on 24 October 2011. This will raise the number of chemicals covered under the Convention to forty-three.

“The addition of these three chemicals marks the second time since the Convention entered into force that Parties have expanded the Convention’s list of substances covered by the Prior Informed Consent procedure. This gives countries that are considering importing hazardous chemicals the right-to-know about the risks they carry and how they can protect public health and the environment, as well as the means to protect against unwanted imports,” said Jim Willis, Executive Secretary.

The conference agreed to include endosulfan as a pesticide in Annex III to the Convention as recommended by the Chemical Review Committee, a scientific expert body, at its second and sixth meetings.  This marked a breakthrough, as past conferences had been unable to agree on inclusion of the pesticide in Annex III. Countries will now be provided with risk information allowing them to make informed decisions on importation of the hazardous chemical. The pesticides alachlor and aldicarb were recommended by the Chemical Review Committee at its fourth meeting.

Agreement to list a fourth chemical, chrysotile asbestos, eluded the conference for the third time since it was first recommended for listing by the treaty’s Chemical Review Committee in 2002.  Debate over the recommended listing of chrysotile asbestos drew widespread public attention throughout a week of sometimes tense negotiations between the Convention’s parties.

“The robust participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition in the work of the Rotterdam Convention has been on display this past week, as they increasingly are taking over the responsibility to assess the risk attached to hazardous chemicals and severely hazardous pesticide formulations”, said Peter Kenmore, Executive Secretary, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “The failure to find consensus on one substance does not diminish this achievement.”

Over 500 participants, representing more than 135 governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations attended the fifth meeting of Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention. The meeting was held from 20 to 24 June 2011, in Geneva.

Note to Editors

The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention met under the theme “Rotterdam COP5: PICturing Chemical Safety, PICturing Informed Decisions”.

The Rotterdam Convention entered into force in 2004. It built on the voluntary Prior Informed Consent, or PIC, procedure, initiated by UNEP and FAO in 1989, which gave way to the formalities of the Convention.  The Rotterdam Convention was adopted in 1998 and entered into force in 2004 and makes the PIC procedure legally binding.

One-hundred forty-one countries are currently Parties to the Convention.  Morocco and Russian Federation have deposited instruments of ratification and will become the 142^nd and 143^rd parties in July 2011.

Endosulfan has been used for over 50 years to effectively control several pests such as chewing, sucking and boring insects. Due to its severe adverse effects on health and environment, it is banned in at least 60 countries including the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Asian and West African nations. However it is still used in many other countries on commercially important crops, such as coffee and tea.

Chrysotile (serpentine forms of asbestos) was proposed to be included in the PIC procedure as an industrial chemical. Its proposed listing at the conference was based on the final regulatory actions to ban or severely restrict its use due to its impacts on health as notified by Australia, Chile and the European Community.

For Further Information Please Contact:

Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson, +254 20 7623084 or email: nick.nuttall@unep.org

Christine Fuell, Coordinator, Rotterdam Convention secretariat, FAO, email: christine.fuell@fao.org

Paul Whylie, Coordinator, Rotterdam Convention secretariat, UNEP, email: pwhylie@pic.int

Michael Stanley-Jones, Public Information Officer, UNEP, mobile/text message: +41 (0)79 730 4495, email: msjones@pic.int

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) held a side event on the occasion of the Fifth Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (COP 5) that took place in Geneva from 20 to 24 June 2011. The Conference was attended by more than 500 representatives from countries all over the world to discuss hazardous chemicals, including pesticides, and it offered an excellent opportunity to bring together scientists of different areas to discuss a particular facet of pesticide exposure.

Geneva, 14 June 2011 - The Multilateral Environmental Agreements Information and Knowledge Management Initiative (MEA IKM), launched today develops harmonized MEA information systems to assist Parties and the environment community at large access information from multiple agreements from one location. Supported by UNEP the initiative currently includes 17 MEAs from 12 Secretariats hosted by three UN organizations and IUCN. It is open to observers involved in MEA information and data management.

The first project – InforMEA, the United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements – is/was launched on 14 June at the occasion of the initiative’s 2nd Steering Committee Meeting, attended by Ms. Maria Louisa Silva, Executive Secretary of the Barcelona Convention, Mr. John Scanlon, Secretary General of Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and Mr. Jim Willis, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

“With the launch of InforMEA the global environmental community has taken a major stride forward in making access to information more transparent and easier to apply in solving the complex challenges we face in the Information Age”, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The InforMEA Portal presents Conference of the Parties decisions and resolutions, news, calendars, events, country specific MEA Membership, national focal points, as well as in the near future national reports and implementation plans organized against a set of 200 hierarchical terms taken from MEA Conference of the Parties (COP) Agendas.

In contrast to similar endeavors this project harvests and displays information directly from MEA Secretariats websites and data bases, who remain the custodians of their data. This allows for accurate and timely data availability in a cost effective manner. MEA secretariats individually implement the technical solution identified.

Harmonization of information standards and formats will facilitate the development of many other knowledge tools among conventions. For example, the Convention on Migratory Species and CITES could display the species listed on their respective appendices or the Stockholm Convention may feature decisions related to endangered migratory species threatened by POPs. Once such an application is developed, the tool is maintained at minimal cost.

www.informea.org - Making key MEA information “speak to one another”

For further information please contact: Marcos Silva (CITES) [marcos.silva@cites.org] and Eva Duer (UNEP) [eva.duer@unep.org], (respective MEA representative)

We are pleased to announce the launch of SafePla.net, the new website of the UN Safe Planet Campaign.

Safe Planet is the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Food and Agricultural Organization-led global public awareness and outreach campaign for ensuring the safety of human health and the environment against hazardous chemicals and wastes.

Safe Planet promotes awareness-raising initiatives among all levels of society, from Government, industry and educational institutions, to community-led initiatives, grassroots organizations, and the decisions of individual households and consumers.

Safe Planet strives to trigger a domino effect among diverse public and private organizations including from civil society that conduct outreach on behalf of the campaign, in order to raise global awareness of chemicals and waste issues and the solutions offered by instruments and practices of sound chemicals management.

The SafePla.net website captures this diversity of actors working for responsibility on hazardous chemicals and waste through a rich display of images, short videos, poetry and feature articles.

Past and future Safe Planet events with links to the campaign’s partners around the globe are showcased, as well as statements of responsibility by Safe Planet Campaign’s growing list of international Supporters.

The website was developed by Friends of Safe Planet, the volunteer support group of the campaign. It was designed by students from Charles University, Czech Republic, working in cooperation with the secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions.

We invite you to join us in celebrating the launch of the Safe Planet Campaign website at an informal reception at International Environment House I, Room 3, on Thursday, 16th of June, beginning at 4 p.m.

Visit Safe Planet at http://SafePla.net

Mr. Jim Willis, a US national, took up his position as Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, Stockholm Convention Secretariat and UNEP-part of the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat on 18 April 2011.

Mr. Willis has throughout his distinguished career worked in the field of environment with particular focus on policy issues related to chemicals and wastes. Mr. Willis worked as the Director of the Chemical Control Division with the US Environmental Protection Agency (2004-2011) and previously as the Director of the UNEP Chemicals Branch (1995-2004), which included serving as Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions' secretariats.

The Secretariat has the pleasure to welcome the official notification of the accession of Morocco and Russia to the Rotterdam Convention. The Convention will enter into force for Morocco on 24 July 2011 and for Russia on 27 July 2011, 90 days after the deposit of the instrument of accession. Morocco and Russia will then become the Rotterdam Convention's 141st Party and 142nd Party. The Secretariat wishes to congratulate Morocco and Russia for taking this significant step.

New Parties list

To complement its face-to-face training activities, the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention is hosting a series of webinars that focus on key issues relevant to the implementation of the Convention.

Through tailored information and knowledge exchange, the POPs Webinars allow for an interactive dialogue between the Secretariat and the government officials involved in the implementation and enforcement of the Convention. By doing so, the Secretariat aims at supporting Parties in addressing some of the challenges they may face when implementing the Convention. The POPs Webinars series offers an opportunity to reach out to a wider network of stakeholders engaged in Convention matters and to the general public.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Pesticide Risk Management (DPRM), offered by the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, aims to equip candidates with the knowledge and skills to enable them to practice as a Pesticide Risk Manager in line with the International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides.

For more information on the Postgraduate Diploma in Pesticide Risk Management (DPRM), please click here.
For a brochure of the diploma, please click here.

The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions present at the 19th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-19)

In its 2010-2011 cycle, the CSD is considering the issues of chemicals, waste management, transportation, mining and sustainable consumption & production patterns. The cycle commences with the review of thematic issues (18th session of the CSD in 2010; CSD-18) and concludes with the adoption of policy recommendations (19th session of the CSD in 2011; CSD-19). In the area of chemicals, the work of the Commission specifically focus on reviewing progress and identifying policy actions in achieving the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) 2020 goal on sound management of chemicals.

The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions will be actively involved in the work of the 19th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development which takes place in New York from 2-13 May 2011.

For more information on the events organized by the Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions at CSD-19 please see below:

UNDESA CSD-19 website

Calendar of activities organised by the Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions at CSD-19

Learning centre on chemicals management
Tuesday, 3 May 2011 at 10 am-1 pm, Room B, North Lawn Building (NLB), United Nations headquarters

The learning session, which is organised by UNEP Chemicals, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention, aims at providing concrete information on three important policy areas for the thematic area on Chemicals: future trends in the production and use of chemicals, chemical management and linkages with human health and the environment, and case studies on international agreements and partnerships as a tool for achieving sound management of chemicals.

Learning centre on chemicals, wastes and sustainable development: Overcoming new challenges
Friday, 6 May 2011 at 3-6 pm, Room B, NLB, UN headquarters

The learning session, which is organised by the Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions and UNEP Chemicals, aims at interacting with participants on some of the main challenges currently facing the sound management of chemicals and wastes. Emphasis will be placed on industrial chemicals, electrical and electronic wastes and measures to prevent the illegal traffic in hazardous wastes. Recent developments regarding the listing of new chemicals under the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions will also be highlighted.

Leaflet

Side-event on integrating sound management: Engaging civil society in sustainability
Monday, 9 May 2011 at 1:15-2:45 pm, Room 4, NLB, UN headquarters

Organised by the UN CSD Education Working Group, this interactive policy forum on "Integrating Sound Management: Engaging Civil Society in Sustainability" aims at identifying opportunities for innovation, implementation, and learning leading to advance the thematic topics considered by this Agenda 21 CSD 19 Policy Session.

Leaflet

High level side-event launching the Publication on Synergies Success Stories: Enhancing Cooperation and Coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions Wednesday, 11 May 2011 at 1:15-2:45 pm, Room B, NLB, UN headquarters

Over the past years, the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions have set up a unique process to enhance collaboration and coordination among the conventions. The so-called synergies process among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions demonstrates that international environmental governance can be enhanced with the aim of fostering the implementation of a cluster of related MEAs.

Developed jointly by the secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions and the Division for Sustainable Development of UNDESA, the publication on “Synergies Success Stories” aims at presenting the ongoing synergistic work in the areas of chemicals and wastes and show casing practical ways of implementing the conventions in a coordinated way. The publication “Synergies Success Stories” will be officially launched at the side-event.

Leaflet

Body Burden Forum
Thursday, 12 May 2011 at 1:15-2:45 pm, Room 4, NLB, United Nations headquarters

Safe Planet: the United Nations Campaign for Responsibility on Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes invite high-profile personages and international experts to engage in a dialogue on how human bio-monitoring information can support the Millennium Development Goals and World Summit on Sustainable Development 2020 target to achieve sound management of chemicals and wastes.

The Forum will discuss the results of human milk monitoring survey on POPs and WHO review of global burden of chemical exposure and initiatives of the chemical cluster conventions to raise awareness and motivate public action to reduce the risks to public health and the environment. During the Forum, the short documentary film, Body Burden will be screened.

Stine Hattestad Bratsberg, Co-chair of the Safe Planet Campaign, LPGA pro golfer Suzann Pettersen, Werner Obermeyer (Executive Director, WHO Office at the United Nations in New York), Jim Willis, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, and an International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) representative will be invited to participate in a roundtable discussion chaired by Jan-Gustav Strandenaes.

Safe Planet: the United Nations Campaign for Responsibility on Hazardous Chemicals and Wastes
Side-event leaflet

Information about the consultative process on financing options for chemicals and wastes can be found on a UNEP dedicated webpage.