Pesticides Eyed for U.N. Watch List

The fate of three chemicals will be decided in a meeting that will be conducted at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s headquarters in Rome next week. Ministers and government officials from 120 nations will deliberate whether to include two pesticides – endosulfan and tributyltin – and the industrial chemical chrysotile asbestos to a trade watch list of hazardous compounds. Endosulfan is widely used around the world, particularly in cotton production.

Under the Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty designed to ensure that hazardous chemicals do not endanger human health and the environment, chemicals that are included in the list will be subject to the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure. Inclusion of substances in the PIC list does not amount to a global ban or a severe restriction of their use, but rather highlights the potential hazards they pose to human health and the environment.

The PIC procedure gives developing country Parties the power to decide which of these chemicals they wish to receive and to exclude those they cannot manage safely. Exporting Parties are responsible for ensuring that no exports leave their territory when an importing country has made the decision not to accept the chemicals.

For more information, read http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000941/index.html