UPDATE - Only 3 of the 4 chemicals added to Rotterdam Convention PIC list

Last week I reported that the parties to the Rotterdam Convention were in discussion to add four chemical substances to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) list.  The four substances were chrysotile asbestos, endosulfan, alachlor and aldicarb.  Well, now that the Fifth Conference of the Parties is over, they decided only to list three of the four.  Parties could not reach a consensus on the addition of chrysotile asbestos due to opposition from several countries, led by Canada and later joined by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Peru and the Ukraine.

Agreement to list the herbicide alachlor and the insecticide aldicarb was reached quickly.  The addition of endosulfan was a bit more contentious because Cuba had argued that listing would cause significant implementation problems for developing countries.  After promises were made to provide technical and financial guidance the agreement to list endosulfan was reached.


These three chemicals will be added to Annex III to the Convention.  Further discussion on chrysotile asbestos will no doubt occur in future meetings of the parties. 

More information on Rotterdam and Prior Informed Consent can be found here.