EU signs new international convention on hazardous chemicals and pesticides
An important step in improving the international regulation of hazardous chemical and pesticides was recently taken with the adoption of the new Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Convention. The European Commissioner for the Environment, Mrs Ritt Bjerregaard, together with the Austrian Environment Minister, Mr Martin Bartenstein, signed the convention on behalf of the EU at an international meeting in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on 10 and 11 September 1998. The convention, negotiated under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), will require all exporters of the substances regulated to obtain the "prior informed consent" of any importing country before shipments occur. It will initially regulate 22 pesticides and five industrial chemicals, with many more expected to be added in the future and aims to protect citizens and the environment from the dangers arising from trade in these substances. Importing countries of these substances will now be empowered to decide which chemicals they want to receive, and to exclude those which they cannot manage safely. If trade in these substances does take place the convention imposes requirements for labelling and the provision of information on potential health and environmental effects and will promote the safe use of these chemicals. Provisions for the exchange of information among the contracting parties on potentially hazardous chemicals that may be exported and imported are also contained in the convention. The EU has already gone some way in the implementation of the provisions of the convention, through Council Regulation 2455/92 on the import and export of certain dangerous chemical. Following the signature of the convention, the EU's Environment Commissioner stressed the importance of the sound management of chemicals, and underlined the important role of NGOs in evaluating and reporting the problems associated with chemicals in developing countries and in helping them fulfil their obligations under the convention.