International trade in hazardous chemicals (Rotterdam Convention)

SUMMARY OF:

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE CONVENTION AND OF THE DECISIONS?

The convention provides for a prior informed consent procedure (PIC) for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides traded internationally.
The decisions ensure that the EU approves, concludes and participates in the Rotterdam Convention since the Court of Justice annulled the original legislative decision on a point of law.

KEY POINTS

The convention:

regulates the import and export of 52 hazardous chemicals and pesticides;
requires any of the chemicals that it lists to have received an importer's prior consent before they can be exported;
establishes a procedure for exchanging information on decisions taken by importing countries;
requires each signatory to the convention to appoint a national authority to ensure it is fully implemented;
asks each signatory whether or not it is prepared to accept imports of the chemicals and pesticides it lists;
requires exporters to ensure that the listed chemicals are not exported if the importing country has not given its formal approval;
requests parties that have banned or severely restricted a chemical to notify this to the convention's Secretariat;
provides for the exchange of scientific, technical, economic and legal information on the chemicals it covers and the possibility of technical assistance for developing countries on chemical regulation;
allows a signatory to withdraw from the convention 1 year after receiving its notification to do so;
does not cover narcotics, radioactive materials, waste, chemical weapons, food and food additives, genetically modified organisms or chemicals exported for research.

DATE OF ENTRY INTO FORCE

The convention entered into force on 24 February 2004.

BACKGROUND

On 10 January 2006, the Court of Justice gave a judgment in case C-94/03. The European Commission had brought the case against the Council, asking the Court to annul Council Decision 2003/106/EC, which had approved the Rotterdam Convention on behalf of the EU.
The Commission argued that the decision should have been based exclusively on the treaty article on common commercial policy (at the time, Article 133 of the Amsterdam Treaty) and not on the article used, which covered environmental policy (Article 175 of the same treaty).
The Court ruled that both articles were required to provide the necessary legal basis and annulled the original Council decision. The new decision, which took effect on the date its predecessor was adopted, ensures there is no legal void.

For more information, see:

History of the Rotterdam Convention (European Commission)
The objectives of the Rotterdam Convention (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Rotterdam convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade (OJ L 63, 6.3.2003, pp. 29-47)

Council Decision 2003/106/EC of 19 December 2002 concerning the approval, on behalf of the European Community, of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade (OJ L 63, 6.3.2003, pp. 27-28)

Council Decision 2006/730/EC of 25 September 2006 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade (OJ L 299, 28.10.2006, pp. 23-25)