The First Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention, meeting in Geneva on 20-24 September 2004, has awarded the Convention’s Permanent Secretariat jointly to Geneva and Rome.
The objectives of the Rotterdam Convention are:
to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm; and
to contribute to the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals, by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by disseminating these decisions to Parties.
The Rotterdam Convention establishes a first line of defense by giving importing countries the tools and information they need to identify potential hazards and exclude chemicals they cannot manage safely. If a country agrees to import chemicals, the Convention promotes their safe use through labeling standards, technical assistance, and other forms of support. It also ensures that exporters comply with the requirements.
Adopted on 10 September 1998 by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, the Convention entered into force on 24 February 2004.
More information on the Rotterdam Convention
Contact details for the Secretariat
