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| www.pic.int |
Rotterdam Convention on Hazardous Chemicals.
- The Convention was adopted on September 10, 1998 and entered into force on February 24, 2004. India ratified the Convention on May 24, 2005.
- The Rotterdam Convention is a multilateral environmental agreement which prescribes obligations on the importers and exporters of certain hazardous chemicals. Parties are empowered to make informed decisions about the chemicals they wish to import.
- The Convention's objective is to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among parties in the international trade of listed chemicals in the Rotterdam Convention, to protect human health and the environment, and to contribute to the environmentally sound use of chemicals.
- The Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure is the mechanism for formally obtaining and disseminating the decisions of importing Parties, as to whether they wish to receive future shipments of those chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention and for ensuring compliance with these decisions by exporting Parties.
- As of now, a total of 47 chemicals are listed in Annex III of the Convention. Out of these, 33 are pesticides and 14 industrial chemicals, which are subject to PIC procedures.
[Read also about related Conventions The Basel Convention and The Stockholm Convention]
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