London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on Chemicals in International Trade

 

PART II – Notification And Information Regarding Banned And Severely Restricted Chemicals And Operation Of The Pic Procedure

6. Notification of control action

(a) States having taken control action to ban or severely restrict a chemical as defined in these Guidelines should notify IRPTC. IRPTC will disseminate these notifications as provided in these Guidelines;

(b) The purpose of the notification regarding control action is to give competent authorities in other States the opportunity to assess the risks associated with the chemical, and to make timely and informed decisions thereon, taking into account local environmental, public health, economic and administrative conditions, and with regard to existing information on toxicology, safety and regulatory aspects;

(c) The minimum information to be provided for this purpose should be:

(i) The chemical identification/specification of the chemical;

(ii) A summary of the control action taken and of the reasons for it. If the control action bans or restricts certain uses but allows other uses, such information should be included;

(iii) The fact that additional information is available, and the indication of the contact point in the State of export to which a request for further information should be addressed;

(d) To the extent practicable, the designated national authority issuing the notification should provide information concerning alternative measures, such as, for example, integrated pest management procedures, non-chemical alternatives and impact mitigation measures;

(e) Notification of control action should be provided as soon as practicable after the control action is taken.3/ For chemicals banned or severely restricted before the implementation of these Guidelines, an inventory of prior control actions should be provided to IRPTC, unless such information has already been provided and circulated by IRPTC to all designated national authorities.

7. Operation of the PIC procedure

7.1 Determination of participation in the PIC procedure

PIC is a procedure which operates in addition to information exchange and export notification. Those countries which elect to participate in the PIC procedure will have the opportunity to record their decisions regarding future imports of banned or severely restricted chemicals in a formal way.

(a) Countries may participate in the information exchange procedures under these Guidelines without participating in the PIC procedure;

b) All exporting countries are expected to participate in the PIC procedure by respecting the decisions of importing countries;

(c) IRPTC should invite countries to participate in the PIC procedure with respect to imports. Designated national authorities should reply indicating whether their country will participate. If there is no reply a follow-up letter should be sent 60 days after the first invitation. If there is no response, IRPTC should take additional steps to obtain a decision. If after that, there is still no response then it will be assumed that the country does not wish to participate in the procedure;

(d) A country may designate one competent body to handle both industrial chemicals and pesticides or may designate separate competent bodies for each;

(e) A country may elect at any time to participate or not participate in the PIC procedure by communicating its decision to IRPTC;

(f) IRPTC should make available on request a list of countries who have elected to participate, countries which have elected not to participate and countries which did not respond.

7.2 Identification of chemicals for inclusion in the PIC procedure

(a) As provided in paragraph 9, IRPTC will notify each participating country of each chemical that is the subject of a notification of a final government control action and that meets the definitions as being banned or severely restricted for environmental or human health reasons for a decision under its conditions of use as to whether that country wishes to permit use and importation of the chemical. An informal consultative process may be used to assist IRPTC in determining whether the control action meets the definitions of the Guidelines;

(b) As provided in paragraph 9, IRPTC should send qualifying control actions, along with PIC decision guidance documents, to the appropriate designated national authority or authorities in each participating country for decision. 4/

7.3 Response to notification of control action for chemicals identified for inclusion in the PIC procedure

(a) The designated national authority in each participating importing country shall make an initial response to IRPTC within 90 days. A response may take either of two forms:

(i) A final decision to permit use and importation, to prohibit use and importation or to permit importation only under specified stated conditions;

(ii) An interim response which may be:

a. A statement that importation is under active review but that final decision has not yet been reached;

b. A request for further information; and/or

c. A request for assistance in evaluating the chemical.

An interim response may also contain a statement permitting importation with or without stated specified conditions or prohibiting importation during the interim period until a final decision is made;

(b) The designated national authority shall use the form provided to make such response; 5/

(c) IRPTC should send reminders to countries as necessary to encourage a response and should facilitate the provision of technical assistance where requested;

(d) If a participating importing country does not make a response or responds with an interim decision that does not address importation, the status quo with respect to importation of the chemical should continue. This means that the chemical should not be exported without the explicit consent of the importing country, unless it is a pesticide which is registered in the importing country or is a chemical the use or importation of which has been allowed by other governmental action of the importing country;

(e) If a country takes a unilateral action which affects the status quo with respect to a chemical, it must so notify IRPTC to make IRPTC aware of the decision. Such a unilateral action will be interpreted as superseding any previous decision it has made with respect to the chemical;

(f) When an importing country takes a final or interim decision which affects the status quo, it should also communicate this decision to the national competent import control actions under its authority.

7.4 Dissemination of information

(a) IRPTC will inform designated national authorities of decisions taken by participating importing countries in a timely fashion and should also make these available to industry and other interested parties on request, preferably through a computer data base. This information should also be included in the regular updates of the United Nations Consolidated List of Products whose Consumption and/or Sale have been Banned, Withdrawn or Severely Restricted by Governments. Semi-annually, IRPTC will notify all Governments in writing of the status of the decisions by importing countries;

(b) Governments of exporting countries shall, upon receipt of importing countries’ decisions, transmit them to their industry.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on Chemicals in International Trade, country.