The amendment to the Convention to list terbufos in Annex III enters into force on 22 October 2023. Parties are invited to provide import responses by 21 July 2024.

Documents	English	French	Spanish
Letter dispatching the Decision Guidance Document and request for submission of import responses on terbufos
Decision Guidance Document for terbufos
Depositary notification with text of the amendment in the six official United Nations languages
Import response form
Instructions on completing the import response form

The 19th Chemical Review Committee meeting recommended that chlorpyrifos and mercury be listed in Annex III to the Convention.

The 19th meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC-19) of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade convened in Rome, Italy, from 3 to 6 October 2023. Held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), CRC-19 recommended that chlorpyrifos and mercury be listed in Annex III and thus become subject to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure of the Rotterdam Convention. The CRC experts will now start developing draft decision guidance documents to accompany the recommendations on those chemicals to be considered by the Convention’s governing body, the Conference of the Parties.

CRC-19 was chaired by Ms. Noluzuko Gwayi from South Africa, leading the intense deliberations among twenty-eight government-designated experts in chemicals management present and elected by the Conference of the Parties. Seventy-one observers representing twenty-four governments and twenty-six non-governmental organisations also participated in the meeting.

The CRC experts also finalized two draft decision guidance documents on paraquat and methyl bromide, previously recommended for listing in Annex III at the Committee’s eighteenth meeting.

The recommendations on the listing of chemicals, together with their draft decision guidance documents, will be considered during the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (COP-12), which will be held in 2025 in Geneva. Should COP-12, based on the recommendations of the Committee, decide to amend Annex III to the Convention to list these chemicals, they will become subject to the PIC procedure. This enables the currently 165 Parties to the Rotterdam Convention to take informed decisions on potential future imports of these chemicals.

Chlorpyrifos is an insecticide widely used in agriculture. It is a highly toxic organophosphate insecticide known to have adverse effects on the nervous system, particularly to children and pregnant women, and genotoxic potential, hence posing significant health risks.

Mercury is used in particular in small-scale artisanal gold mining, as well as products such as lamps, batteries, medical and measuring devices and dental amalgam. It is a toxic heavy metal that, when absorbed into the human body, can cause severe neurological and developmental issues, as well as harm to the kidneys, lungs, and other vital organs. Mercury is subject to global regulation through the Minamata Convention, which aims to mitigate and reduce its environmental and human health impacts.

Methyl bromide, historically used as a soil fumigant and pest control agent in agriculture, is known for its high toxicity to humans and the environment. Due to its adverse environmental impacts and ozone-depleting properties, methyl bromide has been listed as a controlled substance under the Montreal Protocol, leading to efforts to phase out its production and use worldwide.

Paraquat is widely used as a herbicide to control weeds in agriculture. Paraquat is highly toxic, primarily affecting the lungs, skin, and other internal organs, with ingestion or inhalation leading to severe health risks, including pulmonary fibrosis and organ failure.

The Rotterdam Convention promotes shared responsibility and facilitates cooperative efforts among its Parties to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of hazardous chemicals and pesticides.

NOTES TO EDITORS 

The Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS Secretariat) brings together the three leading multilateral environmental agreements that share the common objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes. 

http://www.brsmeas.org/

For information on pesticides under the Rotterdam Convention, contact: Christine Fuell, Executive Secretary a.i. of the Rotterdam Convention, christine.fuell@fao.org

For information on industrial chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention, contact: Abiola Olanipekun, Chief, Science and Technical Assistance Branch, abiola.olanipekun@un.org

For media inquiries, contact: Asana Greenstreet, BRS Secretariat Public Information Officer, asana.greenstreet@un.org

Today, the 19th meeting of the Chemical Review Committee (CRC-19) continued its work, resuming at 9:30am, for the third day.

During the plenary session, designated chairs from the previous day’s contact groups reported on the progress of their work. Thereafter, the meeting continued and adopted decisions on:

• Draft decision guidance document (DGD) for methyl bromide
• Draft DGD for paraquat
• Workplan for the development of draft decision guidance documents
• Rationale for mercury
• Rationale for diarsenic pentaoxide
• Rationale for bromacil

The Committee continued working in contact groups throughout the morning. Participants later participated in a side event organized on the margins of CRC-19, with the theme: “Protecting People, Plants and Planet: FAO's examples of sustainable plant protection and alternatives to hazardous pesticides”, which was opened by the FAO’s Deputy-Director General, Ms. Beth Bechdol.

The Committee then continued working in contact groups for the rest of day to discuss notifications on chlorpyrifos and the four chemicals for which consideration had been deferred from CRC18 (carbaryl, chlorfenvinphos, methidathion and thiodicarb).

Following a busy first day with discussions both in plenary and contact groups, the second day of the 19th meeting of the Chemical Review Meeting (CRC-19) resumed today at 9:30am.

Designated chairs reported that their contact groups had successfully, finalized a draft rationale for mercury (EU and Colombia) in the industrial category, and a draft rationale for chlorpyrifos (Malaysia and Sri Lanka) in the pesticide category. These would be considered by the plenary for adoption later in the meeting. Thereafter, the Committee continued working in contact groups throughout the morning.

In the afternoon, the Committee resumed in a plenary session, with consideration of notifications of final regulatory action for four pesticides (chlorfenvinphos, methidathion, carbaryl, and thiodicarb). CRC members and observers actively engaged in detailed and constructive discussions, with differing views being expressed and a rich exchange ensuing. The Committee agreed to continue its exchanges within a contact group. The Committee will resume its deliberations tomorrow 5 October 2023, at 9:30am.

The 19^th meeting of the Chemical Review Meeting (CRC-19) officially started today in Rome, at the FAO Headquarters, under the leadership of the CRC Chair, Ms. Noluzuko Gwayi.

In their official opening remarks, Ms. Christine Fuell (Executive Secretary ad interim of the Rotterdam Convention) and Mr. Rolph Payet (Executive Secretary of the BRS Conventions) highlighted:

• Their appreciation to the CRC members for their tireless work,
• Their appreciation to observers for their continued active participation in CRC meetings and work as a whole,
• FAO’s work in sound management of pesticides,
• Continued efforts by the Rotterdam convention to harmonise its work with the different MEAs on chemicals and waste management,
• Key outcomes of the ICCM5 meeting, which had closed just before the start of this CRC-19 meeting.

This 4-day (Oct 3^rd-6^th) meeting aims to review:

• notifications of final regulatory action received from Parties for 9 chemicals (chlorpyrifos, mercury, bromacil, ethion, diarsenic pentaoxide, carbaryl, chlorfenvinphos, methidathion, thiodicarb); and
• draft Decision Guidance Documents of 2 chemicals (methyl bromide and paraquat).

On Day 1, the draft Decision Guidance Documents (DGDs) were presented to the plenary, and discussion took place about the work on notifications of final regulatory action for chlorpyrifos, mercury, bromacil, ethion and diarsenic pentaoxide.

The meeting agreed to move forwards with preparing draft decisions transmitting the draft decision guidance documents to the Conference of the Parties for its consideration of whether to list the chemicals in Annex III to and make them subject to control under the Convention. The meeting also agreed that notifications from the following Parties met the relevant criteria and were to move to the next stage of the process:

• For the chemical chlorpyrifos from Malaysia and Sri Lanka
• For the chemical mercury from EU and Colombia.
• For the chemical bromacil from Costa Rica (bromacil)

Contact groups continued working on these elements into the evening on Day 1. Later in the week, the whole Committee will come back to these questions and any draft decisions prepared, once the contact groups conclude their work.

Regional preparatory meetings for the upcoming meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are taking place in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and GRULAC regions during March 2023..