Early warning on
hazardous pesticides
The Rotterdam Convention aims to create a shared
responsibility between countries that export and import toxic
agro-chemicals.
In July 2000, sixteen healthy young farmers in Senegal's
Kolda region suddenly fell sick and died. All suffered the
same symptoms - severe swelling of the face, limbs and
abdomen, heart pains and breathing difficulties - and all were
dead within a week. A team of government disease and poisoning
specialists quickly located the probable cause: two pesticide
powders, Granox TBC and Spinox T, which the victims had used
to protect newly planted groundnut seeds against fungus and
insects.
Eighteen months later, in Geneva, an international panel of
experts launched action aimed at alerting governments to the
danger. The Interim Chemical Review Committee found Granox TBC
and Spinox T to be "severely hazardous" and recommended that
both be added to a growing list of agro-chemicals subject to
international trade controls. Next year, that recommendation
goes for approval to an inter-governmental body responsible
for the Rotterdam Convention, a legally binding global
agreement that seeks to prevent unwanted imports of dangerous
chemicals, particularly in developing countries.
"The Senegal case is a good example of how the Rotterdam
Convention is protecting people and the environment", says
Bill Murray, of the Convention's FAO/UNEP secretariat. "If the
recommendation is approved, Granox and Spinox T will be
included in the Convention's Prior Informed Consent [PIC]
procedure, along with 27 other chemicals that have already
been banned or severely restricted in international trade."
Under the PIC procedure, the secretariat provides all
participating countries with detailed information on the risks
the chemicals pose, allowing them to decide whether to accept
future imports. If any country does choose to ban or restrict
substances on the PIC list, exporting countries are advised
and must immediately inform their exporters, industry and
customs departments. "Basically, we are a kind of early
warning system on agro-chemicals in trade", says Bill Murray.
"The Rotterdam Convention's approach is to stop problems with
hazardous chemicals before they start..."
How big is global trade in these chemicals?
"At present, it is difficult to say. An estimated one to two
million different chemical preparations are on sale around the
world today. After the automotive sector, the chemicals
industry is the world's biggest manufacturer, with annual
sales of US$1.6 trillion. International trade accounts for
US$480,000 million in sales. But due to poor reporting and
monitoring, it is very hard to estimate what part of that
international trade is in chemicals hazardous to humans and
the environment."
How do you define "hazardous"?
"For the convention, a 'severely hazardous pesticide
formulation' is one that produces severe health or
environmental effects observable within a short period of time
after single or multiple exposure, under conditions of use. In
practice, those effects include death, disability and birth
defects, and the formulations include chemicals such as DDT,
PCBs and mercury compounds. It was deep concern over the
global traffic in such chemicals that has spurred
international acceptance of the Rotterdam Convention."
How does the Rotterdam Convention address the problem?
"The convention covers the export and import of hazardous
chemicals and, by implication, their use and regulation.
Initially it was inspired by a North-South dilemma - wealthier
countries that had banned certain life-threatening chemicals
continued to sell them abroad. However, in recent years
South-South trade has increased between newly emerging
economies, where chemicals production is increasing, and
poorer countries. In both instances, less-advantaged importing
countries often lack the means to manage hazardous chemicals
throughout their life cycle, from importation through use and
safe disposal."
In what ways are these countries unprepared for potentially
hazardous chemicals?
"First, regulatory and crisis infrastructure may be inadequate
- for example, most African countries do not have poison
control centres. Those using the chemicals may lack the
knowledge, equipment and ability to use the products safely,
which was the case in Senegal. Many countries also face the
problem of huge quantities of unused chemicals, dumped
illegally or forgotten in unsafe storage areas, which can
contaminate soil, water and air. Effective disposal systems
for hazardous chemicals rarely exist."
How does the PIC procedure work?
"The procedure is a means for formally obtaining and
disseminating the decisions of importing countries on whether
they wish to receive future shipments of a certain chemical,
and for ensuring that exporters comply with those decisions.
So the aim is to create a shared responsibility between
exporting and importing countries. It empowers poorer nations
to make their own decisions by providing them with information
on other countries' experiences and on any existing decisions
to ban or severely restrict certain toxic chemicals. The
Convention also encourages nations to help each other build
capacity to manage chemicals throughout their life cycle."
What chemicals are covered presently by the Convention?
"For now, it covers 27 substances, most of them pesticides. In
addition to Granox TBC and Spinox T, our chemical review
committee has recommended inclusion of monocrotophos, an
insecticide that is applied in many developing countries,
particularly in Asia, to control insects and spider mites, an
insecticide, weedkiller and fungicide called DNOC that is
highly toxic to humans, and all forms of asbestos. We
anticipate that many more chemicals will be added as more
governments learn to use the Convention."
What is the Convention's legal status?
"The Convention text was agreed by governments in Rotterdam in
September 1998. It requires 50 ratifications before it will
enter into force, and so far 20 governments have done so. In
the interim period, prior to its entry into force, the
Convention is voluntary and is operated as the 'Interim PIC
Procedure'. Despite its voluntary status, adherence is
widespread - about 160 governments have already demonstrated
their commitment by designating national authorities
responsible for implementing the Interim PIC Procedure."
The PIC procedure, in brief :
Step 1: At least two countries, in separate regions of
the world, inform the Rotterdam Convention secretariat that
they have taken domestic regulatory action to ban or severely
restrict a chemical. In the case of a suspected "severely
hazardous pesticide formulation", only one country need report
a poisoning incident.
Step 2: The secretariat requests supporting
documentation and forwards it to its chemical review committee
Step 3: The committee reviews the information and
decides whether to recommend its inclusion to the Convention's
Conference of Parties
Step 4: If the Conference decides to include a
chemical, the secretariat circulates a Decision Guidance
Document (DGD) to all national authorities summarizing its
toxicological and environmental hazards, and regulatory
actions taken by countries to ban or severely restrict the
chemical.
Step 5: Based on the DGD, each national authority
decides whether accept or refuse import or allow import under
certain conditions, and informs the secretariat of its
decision.
Step 6: The secretariat publishes every six months a
full listing of import responses, and publishes all relevant
information on each chemical in its online PIC database.
FAO
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