Open letter to the Rotterdam Convention

The Rotterdam Convention is a critical tool for the safe and sound management of chemicals globally. Its Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure ensures that countries have a RIGHT TO KNOW what highly hazardous listed chemicals and pesticides are entering their country. This allows them to take appropriate regulatory action to restrict or prohibit entry to safeguard the health of their citizens and the environment.  

A global coalition of more than 40 trade unions and civil society organisations expressed their frustration and dismay that again the Parties have failed to list chrysotile asbestos and other hazardous chemicals. These blocking tactics threaten the viability of the Convention and make a mockery of its objective to warn countries of the most dangerous chemicals entering their country.  

In an open letter they are now calling on all Parties to the Rotterdam Convention to support an amendment to the Convention which has been proposed by Australia, Switzerland and 12 other Parties[1], and which offers a new simple solution to improve the effectiveness of the Convention, whilst protecting the consensus principle at its core. It enables Parties who want to share information about hazardous chemicals to continue to do so. If approved, the amendment will introduce a new pathway for listing chemicals, when the CRC has recommended them for listing, but unanimous agreement to list them in Annex III cannot be reached by the COP.   

Read the letter, below.