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STATUS AS AT : 21-11-2024 10:15:57 EDT

CHAPTER XXVII

ENVIRONMENT

14. Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade

Rotterdam, 10 September 1998

Entry into force

24 February 2004 in accordance with article 26 which reads as follows: "1. The Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 2. For each State or regional economic integration organization that ratifies, accepts or approves this Convention or accedes thereto after the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit by such State or regional economic integration organization of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 3. For the purpose of paragraphs 1 and 2, any instrument deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by member States of that organization.".

Registration

24 February 2004, No. 39973

Status

Signatories : 72. Parties : 166. ¹

Text

Certified true copy

United Nations, Treaty Series , vol. 2244, p. 337; C.N.846.2002.TREATIES-8 of 20 August 2002 (proposal of corrections to the original English text of the Convention); C.N.1029.2002.TREATIES-18 of 23 September 2002 (correction to the original English text of the Convention); C.N.10.2005.TREATIES-1 of 11 January 2005 (Adoption of Annex VI); C.N.11.2005.TREATIES-2 of 11 January 2005 (Amendments to Annex III); C.N.83.2009.TREATIES-1 of 5 February 2009 (Amendment to Annex III); C.N.139.2012.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 8 March 2012 (Adoption of Amendment to Annex III); C.N.973.2013.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 6 December 2013 (Amendments to Annex III); C.N.696.2015.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 21 December 2015 (Amendment to Annex III); C.N.489.2017.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 24 August 2017 (Amendments to Annex III); C.N.397.2019.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 28 August 2019 (Amendments to Annex III); C.N.574.2019.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 8 November 2019 (Adoption of Annex VII), C.N.187.2020.TREATIES-XXVII-14 of 8 June 2020 (Iran: Notification under article 22 (3) (b)), C.N.440.2020.TREATIES-XXVII-14 of 12 October 2020 (Syrian Arab Republic: Notification under article 22 (3) (b)), C.N.515.2020.TREATIES-XXVII-14 of 4 November 2020 (Russian Federation: Notification under article 22 (3) (b)) and C.N.521.2020.TREATIES-XXVII-14 of 6 November 2020 (China: Notification under article 22 (3) (b)), and C.N.530.2020.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 16 November 2020 (Entry into force of Annex VII); C.N.315.2022.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 28 September 2022 (Amendments to Annex III); C.N.281.2023.TREATIES-XXVII.14 of 14 September 2023 (Amendment to Annex III).²³⁴⁵

Note

The Convention was adopted on 10 September 1998 by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Convention in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In accordance with its article 24, the Convention will be open for signature at Rotterdam by all States and regional economic integration organizations on 11 September 1998, and subsequently at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12 September 1998 to 10 September 1999.

Participant	Signature	Ratification, Acceptance(A), Approval(AA), Accession(a)
Afghanistan		6 Mar 2013 a
Albania		9 Aug 2010 a
Algeria		21 Jul 2020 a
Angola	11 Sep 1998
Antigua and Barbuda		23 Aug 2010 a
Argentina	11 Sep 1998	11 Jun 2004
Armenia	11 Sep 1998	26 Nov 2003
Australia	6 Jul 1999	20 May 2004
Austria	11 Sep 1998	27 Aug 2002
Bahrain		16 Apr 2012 a
Barbados	11 Sep 1998	8 Oct 2020
Belarus		11 Mar 2024 a
Belgium	11 Sep 1998	23 Oct 2002
Belize		20 Apr 2005 a
Benin	11 Sep 1998	5 Jan 2004
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)		18 Dec 2003 a
Bosnia and Herzegovina		19 Mar 2007 a
Botswana		5 Feb 2008 a
Brazil	11 Sep 1998	16 Jun 2004
Bulgaria		25 Jul 2000 a
Burkina Faso	11 Sep 1998	11 Nov 2002
Burundi		23 Sep 2004 a
Cabo Verde		1 Mar 2006 a
Cambodia		1 Mar 2013 a
Cameroon	11 Sep 1998	20 May 2002
Canada		26 Aug 2002 a
Chad	11 Sep 1998	10 Mar 2004
Chile	11 Sep 1998	20 Jan 2005
China ^{6, 7}	24 Aug 1999	22 Mar 2005
Colombia	11 Sep 1998	3 Dec 2008
Congo	11 Sep 1998	13 Jul 2006
Cook Islands		29 Jun 2004 a
Costa Rica	17 Aug 1999	13 Aug 2009
Côte d'Ivoire	11 Sep 1998	20 Jan 2004
Croatia		16 Nov 2007 a
Cuba	11 Sep 1998	22 Feb 2008
Cyprus	11 Sep 1998	17 Dec 2004
Czech Republic	22 Jun 1999	12 Jun 2000
Democratic People's Republic of Korea		6 Feb 2004 a
Democratic Republic of the Congo		23 Mar 2005
Denmark ⁸	11 Sep 1998	15 Jan 2004
Djibouti		10 Nov 2004 a
Dominica		30 Dec 2005 a
Dominican Republic		24 Mar 2006 a
Ecuador	11 Sep 1998	4 May 2004
El Salvador	16 Feb 1999	8 Sep 1999
Equatorial Guinea		7 Feb 2003 a
Eritrea		10 Mar 2005 a
Estonia		13 Jun 2006 a
Eswatini		24 Sep 2012 a
Ethiopia		9 Jan 2003 a
European Union	11 Sep 1998	20 Dec 2002 AA
Finland	11 Sep 1998	4 Jun 2004 A
France	11 Sep 1998	17 Feb 2004 AA
Gabon		18 Dec 2003 a
Gambia		26 Feb 2002 a
Georgia		27 Feb 2007 a
Germany	11 Sep 1998	11 Jan 2001
Ghana	11 Sep 1998	30 May 2003
Greece	11 Sep 1998	23 Dec 2003
Grenada		15 Oct 2021 a
Guatemala		19 Apr 2010 a
Guinea		7 Sep 2000 a
Guinea-Bissau	10 Sep 1999	12 Jun 2008
Guyana		25 Jun 2007 a
Honduras		26 Sep 2011 a
Hungary	10 Sep 1999	31 Oct 2000
India		24 May 2005 a
Indonesia	11 Sep 1998	24 Sep 2013
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	17 Feb 1999	26 Aug 2004
Iraq		18 Apr 2017 a
Ireland		10 Jun 2005 a
Israel	20 May 1999	3 Oct 2011
Italy	11 Sep 1998	27 Aug 2002
Jamaica		20 Aug 2002 a
Japan	31 Aug 1999	15 Jun 2004 A
Jordan		22 Jul 2002 a
Kazakhstan		1 Nov 2007 a
Kenya	11 Sep 1998	3 Feb 2005
Kuwait	11 Sep 1998	12 May 2006
Kyrgyzstan	11 Aug 1999	25 May 2000
Lao People's Democratic Republic		21 Sep 2010 a
Latvia		23 Apr 2003 a
Lebanon		13 Nov 2006 a
Lesotho		30 May 2008 a
Liberia		22 Sep 2004 a
Libya		9 Jul 2002 a
Liechtenstein		18 Jun 2004 a
Lithuania		17 Mar 2004 a
Luxembourg	11 Sep 1998	28 Aug 2002
Madagascar	8 Dec 1998	22 Sep 2004
Malawi		27 Feb 2009 a
Malaysia		4 Sep 2002 a
Maldives		17 Oct 2006 a
Mali	11 Sep 1998	5 Jun 2003
Malta		17 Jan 2017 a
Marshall Islands		27 Jan 2003 a
Mauritania	1 Sep 1999	22 Jul 2005 A
Mauritius		5 Aug 2005 a
Mexico		4 May 2005 a
Mongolia	11 Sep 1998	8 Mar 2001
Montenegro		30 Dec 2011 a
Morocco		25 Apr 2011 a
Mozambique		15 Apr 2010 a
Namibia	11 Sep 1998	24 Jun 2005
Nepal		9 Feb 2007 a
Netherlands (Kingdom of the) ⁹	11 Sep 1998	20 Apr 2000 A
New Zealand ¹⁰	11 Sep 1998	23 Sep 2003
Nicaragua		19 Sep 2008 a
Niger		16 Feb 2006 a
Nigeria		28 Jun 2001 a
North Macedonia		12 Aug 2010 a
Norway	11 Sep 1998	25 Oct 2001 A
Oman		31 Jan 2000 a
Pakistan	9 Sep 1999	14 Jul 2005
Panama	11 Sep 1998	18 Aug 2000
Paraguay	11 Sep 1998	18 Aug 2003
Peru	11 Sep 1998	14 Sep 2005
Philippines	11 Sep 1998	31 Jul 2006
Poland		14 Sep 2005 a
Portugal	11 Sep 1998	16 Feb 2005 AA
Qatar		10 Dec 2004 a
Republic of Korea	7 Sep 1999	11 Aug 2003
Republic of Moldova		27 Jan 2005 a
Romania		2 Sep 2003 a
Russian Federation		28 Apr 2011 a
Rwanda		7 Jan 2004 a
Samoa		30 May 2002 a
Sao Tome and Principe		23 May 2013 a
Saudi Arabia		7 Sep 2000 a
Senegal	11 Sep 1998	20 Jul 2001
Serbia		31 Jul 2009 a
Seychelles	11 Sep 1998
Sierra Leone		1 Nov 2016 a
Singapore		24 May 2005 a
Slovakia		26 Jan 2007 a
Slovenia	11 Sep 1998	17 Nov 1999
Somalia		26 Jul 2010 a
South Africa		4 Sep 2002 a
Spain	11 Sep 1998	2 Mar 2004
Sri Lanka		19 Jan 2006 a
St. Kitts and Nevis		14 Aug 2012 a
St. Lucia	25 Jan 1999
St. Vincent and the Grenadines		29 Oct 2010 a
State of Palestine		29 Dec 2017 a
Sudan		17 Feb 2005 a
Suriname		30 May 2000 a
Sweden	11 Sep 1998	10 Oct 2003
Switzerland	11 Sep 1998	10 Jan 2002
Syrian Arab Republic	11 Sep 1998	24 Sep 2003
Tajikistan	28 Sep 1998
Thailand		19 Feb 2002 a
Togo	9 Sep 1999	23 Jun 2004
Tonga		31 Mar 2010 a
Trinidad and Tobago		16 Dec 2009 a
Tunisia	11 Sep 1998	9 Feb 2016
Türkiye	11 Sep 1998	21 Sep 2017
Tuvalu		21 Aug 2020 a
Uganda		18 Aug 2008 a
Ukraine		6 Dec 2002 a
United Arab Emirates		10 Sep 2002 a
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	11 Sep 1998	17 Jun 2004
United Republic of Tanzania	11 Sep 1998	26 Aug 2002
United States of America	11 Sep 1998
Uruguay	11 Sep 1998	4 Mar 2003
Vanuatu		16 Oct 2018 a
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)		19 Apr 2005 a
Viet Nam		7 May 2007 a
Yemen		4 Feb 2006 a
Zambia		28 Jan 2011 a
Zimbabwe		1 Mar 2012 a

Declarations

(Unless otherwise indicated, the texte of the declarations were made upon ratification,
acceptance, approval or accession.)

Austria

Declaration:

"The Republic of Austria declares in accordance with Article 20 (2) of the Convention that it accepts both of the means of dispute settlement mentioned in Paragraph 2 as compulsory in relation to any party accepting an obligation concerning one or both of these means of dispute."

Botswana

Declaration:

"[Pursuant to] paragraph 2 of Article 20, the Government of the Republic of Botswana declares that, with respect to any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention, it recognises both means of dispute settlement set out in this

provision, as compulsory in relation to any Party accepting the same obligation under the Convention. This Declaration shall remain valid for the period that the Government of the Republic of Botswana is a party to the Convention.”

Estonia

Declaration:

“With respect to any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention, the Republic of Estonia recognizes both of the means of dispute settlement stated in Article 20, paragraph 2 as compulsory in relation to any Party accepting the same obligation.”

European Union

Declaration:

"The European Community declares that, in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 175(l) thereof, it is competent to enter into international agreements, and to implement the obligations resulting therefrom, which contribute to the pursuit of the following objectives:

Preserving, Protecting and improving the quality of the environment;

protecting human health;

prudent and rational utilisation of natural resources;

promoting measures at international level to deal with regional or worldwide environmental problems.

Moreover, the European Community declares that it has already adopted legal instruments, including a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals, binding on its Member States, covering matters governed by this Convention, and will submit and update, as appropriate, a list of those legal instruments to the Secretariat of the Convention.

The European Community is responsible for the performance of those obligations resulting from the Convention which are covered by Community law in force.

The exercise of Community competence is, by its nature, subject to continuous development."

Israel

Declaration:

“Pursuant to article 20, paragraph 2 of the Convention, the Government of the State of Israel declares that with respect to any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the convention, it recognizes only (a) Arbitration in accordance with procedures to be adopted by the Conference of the Parties in an annex as soon as practicable.”

Declaration:

“The Government of the State of Israel has noted that the instrument of ratification of the Syrian Arab Republic to the abovementioned Convention contains a declaration with respect to the State of Israel. The Government of the State of Israel considers that such a declaration, which is explicitly of a political nature, is incompatible with the purposes and objectives of the Convention.

The Government of the State of Israel therefore objects to the aforesaid declaration made by the Syrian Arab Republic.”

Netherlands (Kingdom of the)

17 February 2010

Declaration:

“The Kingdom of the Netherlands declares, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade, that it accepts both means of dispute settlement referred to in that paragraph as compulsory in relation to any Party accepting one or both means of dispute settlement.”

Norway

Declaration:

“In accordance with article 20 (2), [Norway declares that], with respect to any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention, it recognizes (b) Submission of the dispute to the International Court of Justice.”

Republic of Moldova

Declaration:

According to article 20 of the Convention, the Republic of Moldova declares that [it] accepts both means of dispute settlement, mentioned in paragraph 2 of the article, as compulsory in relation to any Party accepting the same obligation.

Syrian Arab Republic

Declaration:

The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic has reviewed the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, which was signed in 1998. Having given it thorough consideration:

It declares that it has already ratified the above-mentioned Convention by virtue of legislative decree No. 35 of 13 July 2003, and that it will fully comply with and respect all its provisions, while confirming that the ratification of this Convention by the Syrian Arab Republic does not in any way constitute a recognition of Israel, and that the provisions of the Convention do not imply that the Syrian Arab Republic has to deal with that State.

Objections

(Unless otherwise indicated, the objections were received upon ratification, acceptance,
approval or accession.)

Israel

13 January 2004

With regard to the declaration made by the Syrian Arab Republic upon ratification :

"The Government of the State of Israel has noted that the instrument of ratification of the Syrian Arab Republic to the abovementioned Convention contains a declaration with respect to the State of Israel. The Government of the State of Israel considers that such declaration, which is explicitly of a political nature, is incompatible with the purposes and objectives of the Convention.

The Government of the State of Israel therefore objects to the aforesaid declaration made by the Syrian Arab Republic."

End Note

1For the purpose of entry into force of the [Convention/Protocol] , any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession deposited by a regional economic integration organization shall not be counted as additional to those deposited by member States of that Organization.
2By decision RC-1/3 of 24 September 2004, adopted at its first meeting, held in Geneva from 20 to 24 September 2004, the Conference of the Parties to the above Convention adopted, in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 8 and paragraph 5 of article 22 of the Convention, the amendments to Annex III. In accordance with paragraph 5 (c) of article 22 of the Convention, the Conference of the Parties, in the same decision, decided that "all the amendments shall enter into force on 1 February 2005, except for the amendments made by subparagraph 1 (a) and (b) of the annex to the ... decision, which shall enter into force on 1 January 2006".
3By decision RC-1/11 of 24 September 2004, adopted at its first meeting, held in Geneva from 20 to 24 September 2004, the Conference of the Parties to the above Convention adopted Annex VI, setting out the arbitration procedure for purposes of paragraph 2 (a) of article 20 of the Convention and the conciliation procedure for purposes of paragraph 6 of article 20 of the Convention. In accordance with paragraph 3 (b) of article 22 of the Convention, any Party that is unable to accept an additional annex shall so notify the Depositary, in writing, within one year from the date of communication of the adoption of the additional annex by the Depositary. The Depositary shall without delay notify all Parties of any such notification received. A Party may at any time withdraw a previous notification of non-acceptance in respect of an additional annex and the annex shall thereupon enter into force for that Party subject to paragraph 3 (c) of the same article. In accordance with paragraph 3 (c), on the expiry of one year from the date of the communication by the Depositary of its adoption, Annex VI shall enter into force for all Parties that have not submitted a notification in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 (b).
4By decision RC-4/5 of 31 October 2008, adopted at its fourth meeting, held in Rome, Italy, from 27 to 31 October 2008, the Conference of the Parties to the above Convention adopted, in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 5 of article 22 of the Convention, an amendments to Annex III. In accordance with paragraph 5 (c) of article 22 of the Convention, the Conference of the Parties, in the same decision, decided that "this amendment shall enter into force for all Parties on 1 February 2009".
5By decisions RC-5/3, RC-5/4 and RC-5/5, adopted at its fifth meeting, held in Geneva from 20-24 June 2011, the Conference of the Parties to the above Convention adopted, in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 5 of article 22 of the Convention, amendments to Annex III. In accordance with paragraph 5 (c) article 22 of the Convention, the Conference of the Parties, in the same decision decided that these amendments entered into force for all Parties on 24 October 2011.
6With the following declaration: In accordance with the provision of article 138 of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and article 153 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Government of the People’s Republic of China decides that the Convention shall apply to the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; it shall not apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China until the Government of China notifies otherwise.
7On 26 August 2008, the Government of the People's Republic of China communicated to the Secretary-General the following declaration: In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Government of the People’s Republic of China decides that the Convention shall apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
8With a territorial exclusion in respect of the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
9For the Kingdom in Europe.
10With the following territorial exclusion: ".....consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account the commitment of the Government of New Zealand to the development of self-government for Tokelau through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, this ratification shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the Depositary on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory."

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