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Ecology

Rotterdam Convention

The global treaty that makes prior informed consent binding for listed hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade. Importing Parties decide whether to allow a shipment, and exporting Parties must respect that decision. The United Nations Treaty Collection lists 169 Parties.

The port of Rotterdam from the air, in the city that gave its name to the prior informed consent convention on hazardous chemicals in trade.
The port of Rotterdam from the air, in the city that gave its name to the prior informed consent convention on hazardous chemicals in trade. Photo: Olivier Cleynen, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped by Fix Planet. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Ecology Existing / enacted International (parties to the Convention; the Secretary-General of the United Nations is the depositary; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Environment Programme jointly support the secretariat)

Official name: Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
Citation: Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade; adopted at Rotterdam on 10 September 1998; entered into force on 24 February 2004
Year / status: Adopted at Rotterdam on 10 September 1998. Entered into force on 24 February 2004.

What it does

The Rotterdam Convention sets legally binding duties for a prior informed consent procedure covering certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade. It was adopted in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 10 September 1998 and entered into force on 24 February 2004. It built on a voluntary prior informed consent procedure that the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations began in 1989; that voluntary procedure ended on 24 February 2006. The two organizations jointly support the secretariat.

Where it applies / status

Listing in Annex III usually needs notifications of final regulatory action from Parties in two different regions, or a proposal on a severely hazardous pesticide formulation from a developing country or a country with an economy in transition. Import responses must be trade-neutral: the same rule applies to domestic production for domestic use as to imports. The United Nations Treaty Collection (Chapter XXVII, No. 14) showed 72 signatories and 169 Parties at its status date of 1 October 2026.

Documented benefits or intended effects

Countries that import pesticides and industrial chemicals need clear information and a real choice before those substances arrive. Once a chemical is listed in Annex III, a decision guidance document is circulated and each Party has nine months to say whether it will allow import, refuse it, or allow it under conditions. Exporting Parties must ensure that exporters in their territory respect those import decisions. The Convention also requires export notifications for chemicals banned or severely restricted at home, and labelling and safety-data rules for occupational uses.

Caveats

The Convention governs information and consent in trade, and decisions about production remain with national law. Chemicals stay off Annex III until the Conference of the Parties agrees to list them. National decisions and the capacity to enforce import responses vary. The depositary and the official Annex III list show the current chemicals and Party status.

Sources

The secretariat overview, the United Nations Treaty Collection record, and the photograph.