Dr Niek Van der Graaff, Chief of Plant Protection Service, FAO Rome provided an update on the Rotterdam Convention. The Convention came into force on 24 February 2004. The first conference of Parties was held in September 2004. The meeting decided the Secretariat would be a joint one presided over by FAO (dealing primarily with pesticides) and UNEP (dealing with industrial chemicals). The Parties agreed to include 14 additional chemicals making a total of 41. A chemical review committee was established, with membership based on geographic distribution, to make recommendations to the COP on which chemicals may be introduced into the system.
The second meeting would be held in Rome to discuss compliance and the work programme, and budget. The number of parties had increased from 60 to 98.
5.1 Discussions of the presentation
To a question raised concerning the relationship of the PIC to the Montreal Protocol, the delegates were informed that the only area where there might be an overlap of interest was the usage of methyl bromide. At present, exemption from the Montreal Protocol was still permitted for pre-shipment and quarantine purposes. The delegates were advised not to examine any other substance which was already being handled in another convention.
