The Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (1998)


The objective of the Rotterdam Convention is to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among parties in the international trade in hazardous chemicals. The long-term goal is to reduce the risk to human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals.

Addressing the dramatic growth in chemical production and trade of in toxic chemicals, the Rotterdam Convention helps participating countries learn more about the characteristics of potentially hazardous chemicals and pesticide formulations. It provides countries with the information and the means to stop the unwanted imports of toxic chemicals. The Convention puts the requirement on the exporter to advise of an export of potentially hazardous substances and an onus on the exporting country to comply with the decisions of importing countries and those transit countries through whose territory the waste will pass.

A voluntary information exchange program set up in 1989 allowed interim prior informed consent (PIC) procedures to operate until the Rotterdam Convention came into force on the 25th February 2004.



The tabs in this section of the Handbook provide a description of the Rotterdam Convention, its obligations and the tools needed to implement it. As well, resource documents and contacts are provided to make the task easier.