The Chemical Review Committee (CRC) of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade reviewed a record number (35) of notifications of final regulatory action, almost all on pesticides, as well as four proposals for listing severely hazardous pesticide formulations. The Committee adopted draft decision guidance documents on chlorpyrifos and mercury, and agreed notifications on chlorpyrifos-methyl and paraquat meet the criteria for listing in the Rotterdam Convention.
The Committee will continue reviewing notifications on nine substances and three severely hazardous pesticide formulations at its next meeting.
The 35 notifications before the Committee were “a shortlist from the Bureau’s review of what one member called a ‘landslide’ of notifications,” the Earth Negotiation Bulletin (ENB) analysis of the meeting reveals, attributed by many to the Convention’s new compliance mechanism, which made it “a requirement to notify the Secretariat when a country enacts a final regulatory action (FRA) to ban or severely restrict a chemical.”
ENB reports that the Committee set aside one proposal for a severely hazardous pesticide formulation (SHPF), deferring three “so the Committee could request information about the incidents reported.” “Given the difficulties and uncertainties in reviewing SHPF proposals,” ENB notes, “the CRC agreed to intersessional work to further compile its experiences with these proposals and review the information-gathering forms countries use to propose an SHPF to the Committee.”
The ENB summary report of the meeting notes that while “[g]lobal demand for pesticides continues to grow, … there are still gaps in the information available about their risks to human health and the environment.” These can be compounded by unsafe management. The CRC’s role is to help fill these information gaps “by reviewing information from countries about their final regulatory actions related to chemicals and pesticide formulations.”
According to ENB, in completing their reviews, “CRC members often encountered what some called ‘the realities’ developing countries face in managing pesticides and chemicals more generally.” At the same time, the ENB report points to “increased demand for the Committee’s work and its stringency as the Rotterdam Convention faces questions about its effectiveness.”
At the last Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Rotterdam Convention, divisive discussions were held about the Convention’s effectiveness, and a vote on whether to amend it narrowly failed. “Those pushing for change pointed to a list of chemicals that the CRC recommended, but the COP could not agree to include in the PIC procedure,” the ENB analysis notes. Growing at each COP, this list currently includes six chemicals, mostly pesticides. Intersessional brainstorming sessions and submissions, information gathering, and other reflexive exercises have tried “to get to the heart of why the Rotterdam COP struggles to accept the CRC’s recommendations.”
CRC-20 convened in Rome, Italy, from 17-20 September 2024. [ENB Coverage of CRC-20]
