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17.03.1998 00:00

New Convention on Pesticides and Chemicals

Erwin Northoff Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Ernährungs- und Landwirtschaftsorganisation der Vereinten Nationen

95 COUNTRIES AGREE ON NEW INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON DANGEROUS CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES

Brussels, 16 March -- After two years of negotiations 95 countries unanimously agreed on a legally binding Convention on international trade and hazardous chemicals and pesticides, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced. Through this treaty governments honoured their commitment made at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to negotiate a convention to curb the trade in certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides.

"The aim of the Convention is to enable importing countries to decide what chemicals they want to receive and to keep out the ones they cannot manage safely," said Maria de Azevedo Rodrigues, Chairperson of the Conference. "It is expected that trade can be better controlled and that the risks of these dangerous chemicals can be reduced to benefit people and the environment. Countries also are expected to put national legislation into force. Until the industry can substitute hazardous chemicals with safer products, especially those exported to developing countries, a damage control system - as provided by the Convention - is needed."

Each year large numbers of people are harmed or killed by toxic chemicals and pesticides. Many of these substances have caused devastating environmental problems.

In the Preamble of the Convention the countries recognise that "trade and environmental policies should be mutually supportive" to achieve sustainable development. The treaty aims at protecting "human health, including the health of consumers and workers, and the environment."

The Convention addresses the problem that chemicals and pesticides banned or severely restricted in industrialised countries are still exported to other countries, very often to the developing world.

The Convention requires that harmful pesticides and chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted in at least two countries shall not be exported unless explicitly agreed by the importing country (this is called Prior Informed Consent Procedure, PIC). The treaty is not a worldwide ban on these chemicals.

The Convention already covers 22 pesticides and five industrial chemicals (*) that have been banned or severely restricted in a number of countries. More hazardous chemicals can be added to the PIC list. Developing countries can also propose the addition of severely hazardous pesticides formulations to this list if they have the potential to damage human health and the environment under their normal conditions of use.

The Convention will replace the present voluntary PIC procedure. Based on the experience of the voluntary PIC, FAO and UNEP estimate that probably more than 50 substances could enter the PIC list in future, subject to the decision of the Conference of Parties.

Under the new treaty, exporting countries will also be legally bound to inform importing countries about exports of chemicals banned or severely restricted in the exporting country. This export notification shall be provided prior to the first export and be repeated for the first export every year.

Countries that will ratify the treaty will be obliged to enforce the agreement at national level and to create enforcement mechanisms that will control commercial exports and exporters. Disputes between states regarding the implementation of the Convention will be settled either by arbitration or by the International Court of Justice.

In developing countries and countries in transition "technical assistance for the development of the infrastructure and the capacity necessary to manage chemicals" shall be promoted.

The treaty enters into force upon ratification by 50 countries. A diplomatic conference will be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in September to officially adopt and sign the new Convention.

According to UNEP, the Convention will help solve several of the major human health and environmental problems. There are large stockpiles of unwanted and obsolete pesticides and other chemicals in virtually every developing country. Each year, thousands of people are poisoned by severely hazardous pesticide formulations. And there are a number of highly toxic chemicals that persist in the environment, accumulate in wildlife and people, persist for long periods of time, and when environmentally released are spread all over the world. These persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a major problem. The Convention will help to manage these serious problems, UNEP said.

FAO warned that many pesticides that have been banned or whose use has been severely restricted in Europe and North America are still marketed and used in developing countries. Also, many old, often highly toxic, organophosphorus pesticide formulations continue to be used there because of their low price.

Often, small farmers simply cannot handle such compounds, FAO warned. Protective clothing is often too expensive and, in many cases, cannot be used due to the climate in these countries. The Convention will be powerful tool to limit access to such compounds. It will help to promote environmentally friendly Integrated Pest Management in agriculture.

The global market for pesticides continues to grow and is estimated at $30 billion for 1996. Companies based in Western Europe are currently the world+s largest chemical producers. The fastest growing markets are in developing countries, particularly in Latin America and Asia. Africa is increasingly using pesticides on export crops.

(*) The PIC list includes the following pesticides: 2,4,5-T, Aldrin, Captafol, Chlordane, Chlordimeform, Chlorbenzilate, DDT, Dieldrin, Dinoseb, 1,2-dibromo- ethane (EDB), Fluoroacetamide, HCH, Heptachlor, Hexachlorobenzene, Lindane, Mercury compounds, certain formulations of Monocrotophos, Methamidophos, Phosphamidon, Methyl-parathion, Parathion.

The industrial chemicals are: Crocidolite, Polybro- minated Biphenyls (PBB), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB), Polychlorinated Terphenyls (PCT), Tris (2,3 dibromopropyl) phosphate.

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