The 18th Chemical Review Committee recommended that methyl bromide and paraquat be listed under Annex III to the Convention.

The 18th meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC-18) of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade convened in Rome, Italy, from 19 to 23 September 2022. Held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CRC-18 recommended that two pesticides, paraquat and methyl bromide, be listed in Annex III to the Rotterdam Convention. The CRC experts will now start developing draft decision guidance documents to accompany the recommendations on those pesticides when brought to the Convention’s governing body, the Conference of the Parties.

Paraquat is a highly toxic herbicide, widely used for weed control, while methyl bromide is primarily applied in fumigation sites. In addition, methyl bromide is a potent ozone-depleting substance, controlled by the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

CRC-18 was chaired by Ms. Noluzuko Gwayi from South Africa, leading the intense deliberations between thirty government-designated experts. Almost fifty observers representing 20 governments and seven non-governmental organisations also participated in the meeting.

The CRC experts finalised two draft decision guidance documents on terbufos and iprodione, chemicals that were recommended for listing in Annex III to the Rotterdam Convention at the Committee’s seventeenth meeting. The recommendations on the listing of iprodione and terbufos, together with these draft decision guidance documents, will be considered during the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (COP-11), which will be held in May 2023 in Geneva. Should COP-11, based on the recommendations of the Committee, decide to adopt amend Annex III to the Convention to list these two pesticides, they will become subject to the Prior Informed Consent procedure, which enables the 165 Parties to the Rotterdam Convention to share responsibility on and take informed decisions on potential future imports.

Presently, Annex III to the Convention lists 52 chemicals, 35 of which are pesticides. Terbufos had been registered for use as an insecticide in various crops, and banned by Parties that notified the Convention Secretariat of their actions, which among other reasons were due to its high risk for aquatic and terrestrial organisms and risk to human health under conditions of use. Iprodione had been registered for use as a fungicide in vines, fruit trees and vegetables, and had been banned by the notifying Parties as it is highly toxic for aquatic life and potentially causes cancer.

In addition to the above, CRC-18 undertook the herculean task of reviewing a significant number of notifications of Final Regulatory Actions to ban or severely restrict ten pesticides, received from: China, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Norway, Türkiye and Uruguay,.

The Rotterdam Convention promotes shared responsibility and facilitates cooperation among its Parties to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of hazardous chemicals and pesticides.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS Secretariat) brings together the three leading multilateral environmental agreements that share the common objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes.
https://www.brsmeas.org/

For information on the Rotterdam Convention, contact: Christine Fuell, FAO Senior Technical Officer, christine.fuell@fao.org

For media inquiries, contact: Marisofi Giannouli, BRS Associate Public Information Officer, marisofi.giannouli@un.org

Pierce Brosnan and Dominic Thiem salute Basel Convention’s work to foster the environmentally sound management of plastic waste.

Geneva, 17 June 2022 — The 2021-2022 meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs) come to a close today after marathon proceedings that begun with the online segment in July 2021, continued with the High-level Segment in Stockholm, Sweden,  on 1 June 2022 in association with the Stockholm+50 international meeting, and were finalized with the face-to-face segment in Geneva, Switzerland from 6 to 17 June 2022. Under the theme “Global Agreements for a Healthy Planet: Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste”, the hybrid BRS COPs were attended by over 1500 delegates from around the world.

Basel Convention

Upon the proposal by Ghana and Switzerland, the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-15) adopted landmark amendments to Annexes II, VIII and IX, which ensure that all transboundary movements of e-wastes, whether hazardous or not, are subject to the prior informed consent of the importing state and any state of transit. This bold decision not only protects vulnerable countries from unwanted imports, but also fosters the environmentally sound management of e-wastes with state-of-the-art technology and thus contributes to a circular economy.

In addition, BC COP-15 adopted technical guidelines on mercury wastes, as well as three updated technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Other adopted technical guidelines included the environmentally sound incineration of hazardous and other wastes as covered by disposal operations D10 and R1, and the environmentally sound disposal of hazardous wastes and other wastes in specially engineered landfill (D5).

Decisions were taken to update the technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of waste lead-acid batteries, to initiate the development of technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of other waste batteries, and to move forward on electronic approaches to the notification and movement documents.

BC COP-15 also continued the small intersessional working group to prepare findings and improve the strategic framework of the Convention for 2012–2021, initiated a new track of work to improve the functioning of the Prior Informed Consent procedure, and adopted new measures on tackling plastic wastes.

COP-15 further welcomed the work of the Implementation and Compliance Committee to support individual Parties overcome their compliance difficulties, and adopted two guidance documents it to improve the implementation of the Convention’s prior informed consent procedure – one of transit transboundary movements and the other on insurance, bond and guarantee.

Finally, COP-15 agreed to further consider the amendments put forward by the European Union to amend Annex IV of the Convention which is key to determining when a substance or object is to be considered a waste falling within the scope of the Convention.

Rotterdam Convention

The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-10) engaged in very extensive and inclusive discussions on chemicals and pesticides, and listed two industrial chemicals: decabromodiphenyl ether, and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds. This listing will make these chemicals subject to the Prior Informed Consent procedure, thereby granting Parties the right to decide on their future import.

“Parties explicitly thanked the Secretariat and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for their support to identify less hazardous alternatives to the pesticides on the agenda” said Christine Fuell, Coordinator of the FAO part of the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat. However, no consensus to list them could be reached due to just a few of the 160 Parties present objecting. Numerous delegates commended the Chemical Review Committee for its excellent work in reviewing the chemicals and pesticides recommended for listing, and noted with disappointment that most of the reasons brought forward to object listings fell outside the scope of the Rotterdam Convention.

On a positive note, RC COP-10 agreed on the work programme for the newly established Compliance Committee. This important subsidiary body will take up its work as soon as possible and is expected to further improve the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention.

Stockholm Convention

The tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-10) listed perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts, and PFHxS-related compounds in Annex A to the Convention, setting them for elimination. PFHxS, its salts and related substances have a high resistance to friction, heat, and chemical agents. They are widely used in firefighting foam, carpets, and non-stick cookware. They have been found to influence the human nervous system, brain development, and thyroid hormone.

In addition, a process was put in place for Parties to provide information on a voluntary basis about cases of trade occurring in contravention of the Stockholm Convention, building on the positive experience under the Basel Convention which sets out a similar process.

SC COP-10 also adopted decisions on two of the initial POPs listed under the Convention: PCB and DDT. On PCB, the SC COP urged Parties to step up their efforts by immediately implementing actions to eliminate its use in equipment by 2025, and to achieve the environmentally sound management of relevant PCB wastes by 2028. On DDT, the COP noted that, while there is a continued need for DDT for indoor residual spraying in specific settings for malaria vector control, it is assumed that DDT use may not be needed after 2030. Parties still using DDT for disease vector control were invited to review their needs, while a decision was taken to initiate a consultative process on a possible DDT phase-out plan.

Plastics Forum

From 8 to 10 June, the BRS COPs hosted the Plastics Forum, a multi-stakeholder event dedicated to promoting the environmentally sound management of plastic waste. The Plastics Forum, which featured more than 20 side events held in a 3-D virtual platform, marked the peak of the Plastic is Forever campaign, with a hackathon, a photo exhibition, the launch of a social media challenge, and an illuminations show on Geneva’s Palais des Nations. Two of the campaign’s promotional videos were screened during the closing plenary of the BRS COPs, featuring Hollywood stars Pierce Brosnan and his son Paris, as well as professional tennis player Dominic Thiem. The videos will be officially released on 21 June 2022, with a separate press release to follow.

Τhe three conference meetings strengthened the mandate for international cooperation with other organizations, including the Minamata Convention on mercury, in support of the recently adopted resolutions by the United Nations Environment Assembly to forge a new international legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution, and to establish a science policy panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and prevent pollution.

The 2023 BRS COPs will be held next May in the Bahamas.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS Secretariat) brings together the three leading multilateral environmental agreements that share the common objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes. www.brsmeas.org

Communication material is available on the BRS Secretariat Trello: https://trello.com/b/iEDpXNHv/the-basel-rotterdam-and-stockholm-conventions

For media inquiries contact: Marisofi Giannouli, BRS Associate Public Information Officer, marisofi.giannouli@un.org

Rome, Italy, and Geneva, Switzerland: 10 October 2019 - UN experts have recommended stricter, legally-binding measures for information exchange concerning trade in the industrial chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds, widely used in domestic non-stick cooking ware and food-processing appliances, textiles, paper and paints, and firefighting foams. PFOA is known to be toxic to humans and the environment with links to major health issues such as kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.[1]

With a goal of protecting human health and environment by assisting governments to make informed decisions concerning trade in pesticides and industrial chemicals, the UN Rotterdam Convention’s Chemicals Review Committee (CRC) held its 15^th meeting at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters in Rome, from 8 to 10 October 2019. Chemicals experts from all the UN regions attended the meeting together with representatives from government, civil society and industry.

PFOA was included earlier this year for elimination in Annex A to the UN Stockholm Convention, and should there be a complimentary listing in Annex III by the Rotterdam Convention when its governing body meets in 2021 this would imply more information would be available for countries wishing to still use PFOA. It would also put in place a legally-binding, structured information exchange procedure based on prior informed consent to trade. This would enable importing countries to be more informed, to soundly manage the chemical and to lower the risk of harmful impacts on health and the environment.

The experts at the CRC meeting also reviewed three additional chemicals, namely: the pesticide amitrole; the industrial chemical decabromodiphenyl ether; and nonylphenols and nonylphenol ethoxylates (pesticide and industrial chemical). Of these, the Committee decided to recommend that the governing body of the Convention (the Conference of the Parties or ‘COP’) list decabromodiphenyl ether in Annex III. The CRC will now prepare a detailed decision guidance document to accompany its recommendation to the COP.

The work of the Chemicals Review Committee provides an important contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG12, which refers in its targets to the sound management of chemicals and waste” said Mr. Hans Dreyer, Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention (FAO), who also commended the work of the 31 international experts of the Committee.

Mr. Carlos Martin-Novella, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Rotterdam Convention (UNEP), added that “This Convention exists to ensure information exchange takes place so that governments may take informed decisions and share responsibility concerning the trade in hazardous chemicals, thus protecting human health and the environment. The experts’ recommendation to list PFOA, and also move ahead with one additional chemical, is therefore a positive step towards the sound management of chemicals across the world.”

Note for Editors:

The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure (PIC) for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, is jointly administered by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The 161 Parties to this legally-binding Convention share responsibility and cooperate to safely manage chemicals in international trade. To date 52 hazardous chemicals and pesticides are listed in its Annex III, making trade of these subject to a prior informed consent (PIC) procedure.

The Rotterdam Convention does not introduce bans but facilitates the exchange of information among Parties on hazardous chemicals and pesticides, and their potential risks. The information can be used to inform and improve decision making. In addition, through its PIC Procedure, the Convention provides a legally binding mechanism to support national decisions on the import of certain chemicals and pesticides in order to minimize the risk they pose to human health and the environment.

For more information, please contact:

For CRC/Rotterdam Convention: www.pic.int

• Christine FUELL, Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention (FAO), Rome: +39-06-5705-3765, christine.fuell@fao.org
• FAO media relations office (For journalists) Rome: (+39) 06 570 53625. E-mail: FAO-Newsroom@fao.org
• Kei OHNO WOODALL, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (UNEP), Geneva: +41-79-2333218, +41-22-917-78201, kei.ohno-woodall@brsmeas.org
• For BRS conventions general media enquiries: www.brsmeas.org
• or contact: Charlie AVIS, Public Information Officer (UN Environment), Geneva +41-79-7304495
  

Geneva, 10 May 2019 - Decisions on plastic waste have been reached today in Geneva, as approximately 180 governments adopted a raft of decisions aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals and waste.

Pollution from plastic waste, acknowledged as a major environmental problem of global concern, has reached epidemic proportions with an estimated 100 million tonnes of plastic now found in the oceans, 80-90% of which comes from land-based sources¹. Governments this week amended the Basel Convention to include plastic waste in a legally-binding framework which will make global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better regulated, whilst also ensuring that its management is safer for human health and the environment. At the same time, a new Partnership on Plastic Waste was established to mobilise business, government, academic and civil society resources, interests and expertise to assist in implementing the new measures, to provide a set of practical supports – including tools, best practices, technical and financial assistance - for this ground-breaking agreement.

Other far-reaching decisions from the two weeks included the elimination of two toxic chemical groups, which together total about 4,000 chemicals, listed into Annex A of the Stockholm Convention, namely Dicofol and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and its salts and PFOA-related compounds. The latter has till now been used in a wide variety of industrial and domestic applications including non-stick cookware and food processing equipment, as well as a surfactant in textiles, carpets, paper, paints and fire-fighting foams.

Important progress was also made under the Rotterdam Convention, which provides a legally-binding framework for information exchange and informed decision-making in the trade of certain hazardous pesticides and industrial chemicals. Two chemicals, the pesticide phorate and the industrial chemical hexabromocyclododecane were added to Annex III of the convention, making them subject to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure, through which countries can decide on future imports of these chemicals. A further decision, to approve procedures and mechanisms on compliance with the Rotterdam Convention – seen as a crucial step for further improving implementation of this key convention - was adopted with great appreciation by Parties.

Working for two weeks in Geneva under the theme of “Clean Planet, Healthy People: Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste”, approximately 1,400 delegates from around 180 countries converged for the meetings of the Conferences of Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (Triple COPs). Participants benefited from the numerous opportunities and events to exchange information on alternatives to these chemicals, as well as best practices.

Speaking at the closing session of the Triple COPs, Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary (UNEP) of the three conventions, said that “I’m proud that this week in Geneva, Parties to the Basel Convention have reached agreement on a legally-binding, globally-reaching mechanism for managing plastic waste. Plastic waste is acknowledged as one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues, and the fact that this week close to 1 million people around the world signed a petition urging Basel Convention Parties to take action here in Geneva at the COPs is a sign that public awareness and desire for action is high.”

“We were able to list two out of 7 candidate chemicals and will continue working closely with parties to identify feasible alternative solutions to hazardous pesticides, taking due account of food security and market access aspects” added Hans Dreyer, Executive Secretary (FAO) of the Rotterdam Convention.

Notes for Editors:

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal is the most comprehensive international environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes and is almost universal, with 187 Parties. With an overarching objective of protecting human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes and other wastes, its scope covers a wide range of wastes defined as “hazardous” based on their origin and/or composition and characteristics, as well as two types of wastes defined as “other wastes” – household waste and incinerator ash. See www.basel.int

Plastic Waste

With an estimated 100 million tonnes of plastic in our seas, 80-90% of which has come from land-based sources, the high public profile of this issue is understandable. Reducing waste generation at source, and improving waste management thereafter, would go a long way towards solving this problem. For more on this see:  https://www.brsmeas.org/?tabid=4332&blogId=5169 and https://www.brsmeas.org/tabid/7656/Default.aspx

The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure (PIC) for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, is jointly administered by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Environment (UNEP). The 161 Parties to this legally-binding Convention share responsibility and cooperate to safely manage chemicals in international trade. As of the end of this COP, 52 chemicals and pesticides are listed in its Annex III. The Convention does not introduce bans but facilitates the exchange of information among Parties on hazardous chemicals and pesticides, and their potential risks, to inform and improve national decision making. In addition, through the PIC Procedure, it provides a legally-binding mechanism to support national decisions on the import of selected chemicals and pesticides in order to minimize the risk they pose to human health and the environment. See www.pic.int

Listing of Chemicals: Pesticides and Industrial Chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention

The newly-listed chemicals are phorate (a pesticide) and hexabromocyclododecane (an industrial chemical) these chemicals would be included in the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure enabling better-informed decision-making on the trade in chemicals, thereby protecting human health and the environment. More information on these chemicals is available at: https://www.pic.int/tabid/1185/Default.aspx

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment. Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) can lead to serious health effects including certain cancers, birth defects, dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems, greater susceptibility to disease and damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems. The Convention requires its Parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. As of today, this legally-binding Convention has 182 Parties, giving it almost universal coverage. As of the end of this COP, 30 chemicals of global concern are listed under the Stockholm Convention. See www.pops.int

Listing of Chemicals: Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention

The two new chemicals listed in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention are the pesticide Dicofol, and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) its salts and PFOA-related compounds (some applications with time-limited exemptions). Listing in Annex A to the Convention obliges Parties to eliminate these chemicals from use. The two chemicals are listed on the basis of a robust review process addressing risks, management options and alternatives by the UN’s POPs Review Committee. Dicofol is used as a miticide on a variety of field crops, fruits, vegetables, ornamentals and tea and coffee and is known to cause skin irritation and hyperstimulation of nerve transmissions in humans as well as being highly toxic to fish, aquatic invertebrates, algae and birds. PFOA is a widely-used industrial chemical used in the production of non-stick cookware and food processing equipment, as well as a surfactant in textiles, carpets, paper, paints and fire-fighting foams. As a substance of very high concern, it is known to be linked to major health problems including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease and hypertension in pregnancy. More information on these chemicals is available in factsheets at: https://chm.pops.int/tabid/243/Default.aspx

For BRS conventions general media enquiries see: www.brsmeas.org or contact:

Charlie AVIS, Public Information Officer (UN Environment), Geneva +41-79-730-4495