The Chemical Review Committee (CRC) of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade reviewed 35 notifications of final regulatory action related to 18 pesticides and three proposals for severely hazardous pesticide formulations (SHPFs). It found many of the notifications and all of the SHPF proposals do not meet the criteria set out in the Convention.

“In particular, many of the national bans or restrictions were not taken after a risk evaluation based on the prevailing conditions of use in the country,” the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting notes. “Countries used other methods in line with their national legal frameworks and the information available to them.” Consideration of five notifications, including one notification from Mozambique on carbaryl and four from Malaysia, was deferred as the CRC could not agree whether the threshold for a risk evaluation was met.

Increased pesticide use has given rise to concerns about their negative impacts on health and the environment, ENB writes. Pesticides’ persistence in soil and water, their impacts on non-target species such as pollinators and wildlife, and health risks to farmers and consumers are among the potential dangers associated with their use, which, in 2022, was 3.7 million tonnes of active ingredients. This represents “a 13% increase in a decade, and a doubling since 1990.”

Listing a pesticide in the Rotterdam Convention can classify it as a highly hazardous pesticide (HHP).

The Rotterdam Convention is part of an evolving governance landscape seeking to promote safe use and reduce exposure to hazardous pesticides. The Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC) aims to eliminate the use of HHPs by 2035. As global action on HHPs ramps up, the ENB analysis highlights, the CRC’s pesticide work “will remain under a microscope.” “CRC reviews do not just prompt information exchange during trade, but if the political decisions at the [Conference of the Parties (COP)] agree with the CRC, then the pesticides could be part of global efforts to ban HHPs.”

The CRC’s 21st meeting (CRC-21) took place in Rome, Italy, from 23-26 September 2025, back-to-back with the 21st meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to the Stockholm Convention (POPRC-21). It was attended by 26 members, 43 participants from 23 government observers, and 18 participants from nine observer organizations. [ENB Coverage of CRC-21]