Rotterdam Convention

To ensure safe handling of chemicals worldwide, it is essential for trading partners to share information on any hazardous properties, associated risks and potential mitigation measures concerning such chemicals. To accommodate this need, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade regulates the exchange of information in international trade in certain hazardous chemicals. Exporting countries are obliged to provide importing countries with information on the toxicological and ecotoxicological properties and on appropriate measures to ensure safe handling of such substances. In this way, all states, including those with very limited capacities, are able to make informed decisions on whether to import certain hazardous chemicals and take any risk mitigation measures if necessary. According to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure, companies headquartered in a party are not allowed to export any chemicals listed in the convention until the importing country gives its consent.

Currently, Annex III to the Rotterdam Convention lists a total of 55 chemicals; 36 are used as substances or formulations for pesticides, 18 are industrial chemicals and one falls into both categories. Up-to-date information can be found on the convention website:

The convention was adopted in Rotterdam on 10 September 1998 and entered into force on 24 February 2004; there are currently 166 parties to the convention.

Its decision-making body is the Conference of the Parties (COP). All parties to the convention are represented in the COP. Collectively, they take decisions regarding, for example, the inclusion of substances in Annex III or the budget of the Secretariat. Decisions are usually taken by consensus. The COP takes place every two years in the form of a triple COP alongside the COPs of the Stockholm and Basel Conventions. It was last held in Geneva in May 2023. The next COP, scheduled for 28 April to 9 May 2025, will also be hosted by Geneva.

All organisational decisions between and during COPs are taken by a Bureau, which is composed of five members. Every UN region appoints one representative from among its member states that are parties to the convention. Elected at the close of each COP, these representatives perform their duties until the conclusion of the subsequent COP. The Bureau is headed by a President, who also chairs the COP and leads the negotiations with support from the Bureau and Secretariat. Since the power to make decisions ultimately lies with the COP and thus with the parties, the Bureau takes its decisions in consultation with them.

In its decision-making process, the COP is supported by two specialist bodies: the Chemical Review Committee (CRC) and the Compliance Committee (RCCC). Both committees make recommendations for the COP to decide on – the CRC on the inclusion of chemicals in Annex III and the RCCC on assisting countries in implementing the convention.

Furthermore, the parties and the COP are supported by the Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention, which is hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Secretariat is based in Geneva. In addition to its administrative role, it organises COPs as well as meetings of the specialist bodies and the Bureau. It also provides case-by-case and broader project-based assistance to parties, for example in drawing up guidance materials and other resources or in making travel arrangements.

In the European Union, the Rotterdam Convention is implemented through Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of 4 July 2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals, known as the EU PIC Regulation. The EU PIC Regulation is more comprehensive in scope than the Rotterdam Convention. It currently lists 322 substances that are subject to the PIC procedure. These also include persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are covered by the Stockholm Convention. The EU has imposed an export ban on POPs.

In Germany, exporters of chemicals listed in the PIC Regulation are required to notify any such exports in advance to the Federal Office for Chemicals at the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). Furthermore, exports are only allowed with the prior consent of the importing country.

The European Chemicals Agency ECHA maintains a list of substances that are subject to the PIC procedure.