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Vol. 15 No. 70
Monday, 30 September 2002
NINTH SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING
COMMITTEE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL LEGALLY BINDING INSTRUMENT FOR THE
APPLICATION OF THE PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT PROCEDURE FOR CERTAIN
HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE:
30 SEPTEMBER TO 4 OCTOBER 2002
The ninth session of the Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee for an International Legally Binding
Instrument for the Application of the Prior Informed Consent
Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in
International Trade (INC-9) opens today in Bonn, Germany.
The prior informed consent (PIC) procedure aims
to promote a shared responsibility between exporting and importing
countries in protecting human health and the environment from the
harmful effects of certain hazardous chemicals that are traded
internationally. A major step in this process was taken in September
1998 with the adoption of the Rotterdam Convention on the PIC
Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in
International Trade. To date, the Convention has been signed by 72
States and the European Community, and ratified by 33 States. It
will enter into force once 50 instruments of ratification are
deposited. Until the Convention's first Conference of the Parties
(COP), the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) will
continue to provide guidance regarding the implementation of the PIC
procedure during this interim period.
Delegates to INC-9 will resume consideration of
the major issues associated with the implementation of the interim
PIC procedure. As part of this work, key items on the INC-9 agenda
include a review of the current financial situation and the proposed
budget for 2004, and the status of implementation of the interim PIC
procedure. Delegates will also consider preparations for the first
COP, including outstanding matters relating to the draft financial
rules and provisions, procedures for dispute settlement, mechanisms
for handling cases of non-compliance, and discontinuation of the
interim PIC procedure.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PIC PROCEDURE
Growth in internationally traded chemicals during
the 1960s and 1970s led to increasing concern over pesticides and
industrial chemical use, particularly in developing countries that
lacked the expertise or infrastructure to ensure their safe use.
This prompted the development of the International Code of Conduct
for the Distribution and Use of Pesticides by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the London Guidelines for the
Exchange of Information on Chemicals in International Trade by the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Both the Code of
Conduct and the London Guidelines include procedures aimed at making
information about hazardous chemicals more readily available,
thereby permitting countries to assess the risks associated with
their use.
In 1989, both instruments were amended to include
a voluntary PIC procedure to help countries make informed decisions
on the import of chemicals that have been banned or severely
restricted. Managed jointly by the FAO and UNEP, the voluntary PIC
procedure provided a means for formally obtaining and disseminating
the decisions of importing countries on whether they wish to receive
future shipments of such chemicals. The voluntary PIC procedure was
designed to:
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assist countries to learn more about the
characteristics of potentially hazardous chemicals that may be
imported;
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initiate a decision-making process on the
future import of these chemicals; and
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facilitate dissemination of these decisions to
other countries.
At the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, delegates
recognized that while the use of chemicals is essential to meet
social and economic goals, a great deal remains to be done to ensure
their sound management. UNCED adopted Agenda 21, which contains, in
Chapter 19, an international strategy for action on chemical safety
and called on States to achieve, by the year 2000, the full
participation in and implementation of the PIC procedure, including
possible mandatory applications of the voluntary procedures
contained in the amended London Guidelines and the Code of Conduct.
In November 1994, the 107th meeting of the FAO Council agreed that
the FAO Secretariat should proceed with the preparation of a draft
PIC convention as part of the FAO/ UNEP programme in cooperation
with other international and non-governmental organizations.
In May 1995, the 18th session of the UNEP
Governing Council adopted decision 18/12, authorizing the Executive
Director to convene, with the FAO, an Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee (INC) with a mandate to prepare an international legally
binding instrument for the application of the PIC procedure.
INC-1: The first session of the INC was held
from 11-15 March 1996, in Brussels. With more than 194 delegates
from 80 governments and representatives of various specialized
agencies, IGOs and NGOs in attendance, INC-1 agreed on the rules of
procedure, elected Bureau members and completed a preliminary review
of a draft outline for a future instrument. Delegates also
established a working group to clarify the chemicals to be included
under the instrument.
INC-2: The second session of the INC met from
16-20 September 1996 in Nairobi, and produced a draft text of the
convention. Delegates agreed that many aspects of the instrument
required further detailed consideration, and noted the need for at
least one additional negotiating session before the convention could
be completed.
INC-3: INC-3 convened in Geneva from 26-30
May 1997. Delegates from 102 countries considered the revised text
of draft articles for the instrument and proposals from several
delegations. Debate centered on the scope of the proposed
convention.
INC-4: The fourth session of the INC took
place from 20-24 October 1997, in Rome, with delegates considering
the revised text of draft articles for the instrument.
INC-5: INC-5 was held from 9-14 March 1998,
in Brussels. Delegates made progress on a consolidated draft text of
articles, and reached agreement on the draft text of the PIC
convention and a draft resolution on interim arrangements.
THE DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE OF PLENIPOTENTIARIES:
The Conference of the Plenipotentiaries on the Convention on the
PIC Procedure was held from 10-11 September 1998, in Rotterdam.
Ministers and senior officials from nearly 100 countries adopted the
Rotterdam Convention, the Final Act of the Conference and the
resolution on interim arrangements. Sixty-one countries signed the
Convention and 78 countries signed the Final Act. The PIC Convention
currently covers 31 chemicals, consisting of 21 pesticides, five
severely hazardous pesticide formulations and five industrial
chemicals. It is expected that more chemicals will be added as the
provisions of the Convention are implemented.
The resolution on interim arrangements provides
for continued implementation of the voluntary PIC procedure during
the interim period, in line with the new procedures contained in the
Convention. The resolution invites UNEP and the FAO to convene
further INCs during the interim period to oversee the operation of
the interim PIC procedure. Chemicals for which decision guidance
documents (DGDs) were circulated during the voluntary procedure are
subject to the interim procedure. Those chemicals identified for
inclusion, but for which DGDs had not been circulated, are subject
to the interim procedure, once adopted by the INC. The resolution
invites the INC to: establish an interim subsidiary body to carry
out the functions that will be permanently entrusted to a Chemical
Review Committee (CRC); define and adopt PIC regions on an interim
basis; adopt, on an interim basis, the procedures for banned or
severely restricted chemicals; and decide on the inclusion of any
additional chemicals under the interim PIC procedure.
INC-6: INC-6 was held from 12-16 July 1999,
in Rome. Delegates from 121 countries addressed arrangements for the
interim period prior to entry into force of the Convention, and for
the implementation of the interim PIC procedure. INC-6 resulted in
draft decisions on the definition and provisional adoption of the
PIC regions (Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean,
Near East, Southwest Pacific and North America), the establishment
of an interim CRC, and the adoption of draft DGDs for chemicals
already identified for inclusion.
ICRC-1: The first session of the Interim
Chemical Review Committee (ICRC-1) took place in Geneva from 21-25
February 2000. The Committee, consisting of 29 government-designated
experts in chemicals management from the seven PIC regions, agreed
to recommend two chemicals – ethylene dichloride and ethylene oxide
– for inclusion in the interim PIC procedure, and forwarded draft
DGDs for those chemicals to INC-7 for consideration. ICRC-1 also
established a number of task groups to work intersessionally on
various issues related to the ICRC's operational procedures.
INC-7: The seventh session of the INC was
held from 30 October to 3 November 2000, in Geneva. Delegates
addressed, inter alia: implementation of the interim PIC
procedure; issues arising out of the Conference of
Plenipotentiaries; and preparations for the COP, such as
discontinuation of the interim PIC procedure and financial
arrangements. Delegates also adopted DGDs for ethylene dichloride
and ethylene oxide, as well as a policy on contaminants within
chemicals.
ICRC-2: The second session of the ICRC
(ICRC-2) was held in Rome from 19-23 March 2001. In light of
discussion and adoption at INC-7 of a general policy on contaminants
within chemicals, the ICRC considered the DGD on maleic hydrazide.
It also addressed: ICRC operational procedures; inclusion of
monocrotophos in the interim PIC procedure; and the use of regional
workshops to strengthen the links between designated national
authorities (DNAs) and the work of the ICRC and the INC. It also
forwarded recommendations to the INC on cooperation and coordination
in the submission of notifications of final regulatory actions, and
on the inclusion of monocrotophos in the interim PIC procedure.
INTERSESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
ICRC-3: The third meeting of the ICRC was
held from 17-21 February 2002, in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting
resulted in a recommendation by the Committee that three widely-used
pesticides and all forms of asbestos remaining outside the PIC
procedure be added to the international list of chemicals subject to
this procedure. These recommendations will be considered at INC-9.
The three pesticides recommended for the PIC
procedure are monocrotophos, GRANOX TBC/SPINOX T and DNOC.
Monocrotophos is used in many developing countries to control
insects and spider mites on cotton, citrus, rice, maize and other
crops, but threatens the health of farm workers, and is also highly
toxic to birds and mammals. GRANOX TBC and SPINOX T are mixtures of
fungicides and the highly toxic insecticide Carbofuran, and are used
by peanut farmers. DNOC is an insecticide, weed killer and fungicide
that is toxic to humans as well as other organisms. The five
remaining forms of asbestos – actinolite, anthophyllite, amosite,
tremolite and chrysotile - were also recommended to be added to the
PIC list.
WSSD: The sound management of chemicals and
hazardous waste were addressed at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, held in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September
2002. Delegates agreed to text in the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation supporting entry into force of the Rotterdam
Convention by 2003 and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs) by 2004. The Plan of Implementation
also contains commitments to: reduce the significant effects of
chemicals and hazardous wastes on human health and the environment
by 2020; encourage countries to implement the new globally
harmonized system for the classification and labeling of chemicals,
with a view to having the system operational by 2008; and promote
efforts to prevent international illegal trafficking of hazardous
chemicals and hazardous wastes, as well as damage resulting from the
transboundary movement and disposal of hazardous wastes.
OTHER RELATED MEETINGS: In other
international chemicals-related meetings, the Technical and Legal
Working Groups of the Basel Convention on the Control of the
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal met
from 14-18 January 2002, in Geneva, Switzerland. Also, the Sixth
Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-6) for
an International Legally Binding Instrument for Implementing
International Action on Certain POPs was held from 17-21 June 2002,
in Geneva, Switzerland. More recently, a Workshop on Liability and
Redress in the context of the Stockholm Convention on POPs was held
from 19-21 September 2002, in Vienna, Austria. For more information
on these meetings, visit:
http://enb.iisd.org/recent/recentmeetings.asp?id=4
THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY
OPENING PLENARY: INC-9 will open at 10:00 am
in the Bundeshaus in Bonn, with statements by Jürgen Trittin, German
Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and
Nuclear Safety, and by Bärbel Dieckmann, Mayor of Bonn. UNEP's
Deputy Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel and the FAO's Assistant
Director-General Louise Fresco will also present their opening
remarks. Delegates are then expected to take up organizational
matters, including the organization of work and the meeting's
expected outcomes, before addressing the more substantive items on
the agenda. |
