The following is a checklist of actions that Governments/DNAs must have performed for a country to fully participate in the Rotterdam Convention.
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Has your government nominated a DNA for both pesticides and industrial chemicals? |
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Have the DNAs been provided with sufficient resources to carry out their duties? |
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Has the DNA(s) sent completed notification forms of chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted in their country to the Secretariat? |
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Has the DNA(s) sent completed import response forms, containing a decision on future imports for all chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention, to the Secretariat? |
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Has domestic production for domestic use or importation from non-Party sources been prohibited for any chemical listed in Annex III of the Convention for which your import country response form contained a decision not to allow future import? |
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Have the import response decisions of other Parties been communicated to other relevant agencies and industries in your country? |
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Does a mechanism exist in your country to ensure that there will be no exports of chemicals in Annex III to the Convention to Parties that do not wish to receive them? |
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Does a mechanism(s) exist in your country for export notifications of the first export in each calendar year, of domestically banned or severely restricted chemicals that are not yet included in Annex III of the Convention? |
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Do you have procedures in place to enable you to promptly provide a notice of receipt regarding any export notifications received? |
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Are there mechanism(s) in place to ensure that exports of chemical are accompanied by the necessary information required under the Convention? |
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For developing countries and countries with economies in transition, do you have mechanisms in place that will enable you to identify proposals for an SHPF? |
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DNAs are expected to serve as the focal point in their country for the dissemination of information concerning the Rotterdam Convention to relevant government departments, export and importing industries, or other stakeholders. One important requirement in nominating a DNA is that governments shall ensure that DNAs is provided with the necessary resources to effectively carry out their responsibilities. DNAs are also responsible for providing information to the Secretariat and to other Parties as required by the Convention.
Many countries have nominated only one DNA to function as their contact point. Others have nominated two DNAs, usually reflecting their own domestic arrangements for chemicals management, with one DNA being responsible for industrial chemicals and a second for pesticides. In some cases, countries have nominated only one DNA for only one category of chemicals; for example, pesticides. In such situations there is no nominated DNA for the other category, and governments should examine their situation to ensure that they have adequate arrangements in place to fully participate in the Rotterdam Convention. If a country has more than one DNA, they are requested to coordinate and consolidate submissions to the Secretariat.
In line with Article 4 of the Convention, each Party shall designate one or more national authorities to act on its behalf with regard to the performance of the administrative functions required by this Convention. The decision as to the number of DNAs is up to individual governments. Most have decided on authorities regulating chemicals in their country, while others have nominated authorities responsible for foreign affairs. Most of the nominations indicate, in addition to the authorities the position and/or the name of the responsible officer. Some have decided to nominate political Heads such as Ministers, whereas others have nominated officers who have more direct day-to-day involvement with chemical management either at the policy or operational level or both. It is generally preferable that an office or a particular position, rather than a particular person, is identified as the DNA to avoid problems associated with changes in personnel.
The nomination or changes of nomination, should be sent from the country’s official contact or foreign affairs point (for FAO or for UNEP) to the Secretariat. The Secretariat should be notified of any change of address of the DNA. The Secretariat updates the list of DNAs and distributes a complete list every six months, together with the PIC circular, to all DNAs.
The DNA for a Party has a number of responsibilities to undertake whixh are described in Articles 5, 6, 10 and 12. These include:
Notifying the Secretariat of national final regulatory actions (Section 2.3.1)
Under Article 5 of the Convention, Parties have the following obligations with respect to notifying the Secretariat of their final regulatory actions to ban or severely restrict a chemical for health or environmental reasons.
On the entry into force of the Convention for a Party, it is obliged to notify the Secretariat of all of its final regulatory actions (bans and severe restrictions) in effect at that time. Where Parties have made notifications under the original PIC procedure they do not need to resubmit these notifications.
Parties have an ongoing obligation to notify the Secretariat of any subsequent final regulatory actions (bans or severe restrictions) taken for health or environmental reasons. These notifications should be submitted to the Secretariat by the DNA as soon as possible after the action has been taken but no later than 90 days after the regulatory action has taken effect.
Where a Party modifies a regulatory action notified previously to the Secretariat, the DNA should resubmit a notification reflecting the changed regulatory action.
To facilitate the preparation and submission of these notifications of final regulatory action, a detailed form has been developed that meets the information requirements of Annex I of the Convention. Copies of the Notification of Final Regulatory Action form and instructions on how to complete the form are included in Annex 7.5.1 of this guide.
Submitting proposals for severely hazardous pesticide formulations (SHPFs) (Section 2.3.2)
Under Article 6 of the Convention, DNAs from developing countries or countries with an economy in transition may submit proposals to the Secretariat for the listing of SHPFs in Annex III of the Convention, if they are experiencing problems caused by such formulations under conditions of use in their countries. In developing these proposals they may draw upon technical expertise from any relevant source.
To facilitate the development and submission of proposals in support of severely hazardous pesticide formulations two incident report forms have been developed, one for environmental incidents and a second for human health incidents.
These forms consist of two parts, Part A and Part B. Part A (Transmittal Form) is to be used by the DNA to transmit an incident report form to the Secretariat. Part B (Pesticide Incident Report Form) has been developed to meet the information requirements of Part 1 of Annex IV of the Convention. It is intended to provide a clear description of the incidents related to the use of the pesticide formulation, any adverse effects and the way in which the formulation was used. The use of these forms is purely voluntary; other forms/formats used in a country for collecting pesticide incident reports may be used to replace Part B provided that those submissions meet the information requirements of part 1 of Annex IV of the Convention.
Extension services, non-governmental organizations and aid agencies may use Part B to provide DNAs with detailed information on incidents in the field. The DNA’s task is to complete Part A and officially submit the proposal including both parts to the Secretariat.
Copies of the incident report forms and instructions on how to complete them are included in Annexes 7.5.3 and 7.5.4 of this guide.
Providing importing country responses to chemicals subject to the PIC procedure (Chemicals in Annex III of the Convention) (Section 3.3.3)
Under Article 10 of the Convention, Parties have the following obligations with respect to imports of chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention and subject to the PIC procedure:
No later than the date of entry into force of the Convention for a Party it is obliged to send to the Secretariat its decisions on future import for each of the chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention. Where Parties have provided such import responses under the original PIC procedure they do not need to resubmit them.
Parties have an ongoing obligation to submit to the Secretariat, as soon as possible and in any event no later than nine months after the date of dispatch of a decision guidance document, their import decision (whether a final or interim response) concerning the future import of the chemical.
Where a Party changes an import decision submitted previously to the Secretariat, the DNA should submit a revised import response to the Secretariat as soon as possible.
To facilitate the preparation and submission of these import responses a detailed form has been developed. Copies of the Importing Country Response form and instructions on how to complete the form are included in Annex 7.5.2 of this guide.
Communicating the received import responses to stakeholders in that country
DNAs receive a complete set of all importing country responses every six months through the PIC Circular. DNAs are expected to disseminate this information to all relevant agencies that may be involved in the regulation, production and trade of chemicals in their country (e.g. government departments, manufacturers, export industries, etc.). This is to enable those institutions and persons to take the appropriate action to ensure that exports do not occur contrary to importing responses of Parties.
Apart from the above-mentioned obligations, governments should consider what other actions have to be taken from their side in order to participate in and apply in full the Convention.
Parties must equally apply their import response to all sources and to the domestic manufacture of chemical for domestic use.
When a Party decides not to allow the future import of a chemical listed in Annex III of the Convention or to allow import subject to certain conditions, then that Party must also prohibit or apply the same conditions to the import of the same chemical from other sources. These other sources will include domestic production for domestic use and trade from non-Parties to the Convention. This will require Parties to have legislative or administrative mechanisms in place to prohibit import at its borders and to prevent manufacture of the chemical within its own territory.
Many countries may have pesticide registration schemes covering the registration of pesticides and pesticide formulations, but not all countries have equivalent schemes that can effectively regulate both the import and the manufacture of industrial chemicals. Therefore, there may be a need for some countries to strengthen their domestic regulatory schemes.
Most countries also have established customs and quarantine schemes, which are enforced at their borders, and these may provide a mechanism that could (with appropriate amendments) be used to control the import (and export) of the relevant chemicals. Other mechanisms may also exist depending upon a country’s legislative and administrative infrastructure.
Parties must ensure that export does not occur contrary to import decisions.
One of the most important elements of the Convention that Parties must implement is the ability to ensure that exports of chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention do not occur contrary to the decisions of importing Parties.
Parties therefore need to ensure that either legislative or administrative mechanisms are in place that prohibit the exports of these chemicals. One possible mechanism, as already suggested, is to use existing customs legislation and border controls. Other possible mechanisms may be:
to impose a prohibition on the export of scheduled chemicals and require industry to comply;
to establish a licensing system for exporters of chemicals, with non-compliance with regard to the export of chemicals in Annex III of the Convention leading to possible cancellation of licences;
to establish an education programme directed at raising the awareness of PIC responsibilities among the chemical and exporting industry; and/or
other mechanisms consistent with the exporting Party’s legislative and administrative infrastructure.
Whichever mechanism is chosen, it is important to recognize that there will need to be resources devoted to inspection and enforcement to ensure that compliance is achieved.
Parties must ensure human health and environment information accompanies exports.
The obligations that human health and environment information accompany the export of chemicals will require some Parties to strengthen their chemicals management system. In many countries, the existing labelling and other requirements regarding information on chemicals may ensure that any chemical destined for export already has adequate information accompanying the shipment. If this is not the case, Parties will need to ensure, through either education campaigns or through formal legislative provisions, that exports of chemicals are accompanied by adequate information regarding protection of health and the environment, as required by the Convention.
Article 16 of the Convention contains a general obligation for Parties to recognize the needs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition and to provide technical assistance to build capacity for chemicals management and to enable implementation of the Convention.
The Rotterdam Convention has been developed to take into account the needs of participating countries with regard to economic conditions, legislation, awareness, knowledge of decision makers and access to information. Therefore, the Convention requires that Parties with more advanced programmes should provide technical assistance, including training, to other Parties in developing their infrastructure and capacity to manage chemicals, in order to enable all Parties to fully implement the Convention.
