Arusha - Green Customs Initiative

A delegate from Tanzania said that Tanzania enacted the Environmental Management Act in
2004 which came operational in July 2005. She further informed that the Act covers some of
the MEAs but relevant regulations are yet to be developed. In addition, she pointed out that
for the Rotterdam Convention, there exists the Industrial and Consumer Chemicals Act (2003)
regulates all industrial chemicals including the PIC chemicals.
Introduction to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedures
for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
Dr. Ernest Mashimba, Chief Government Chemist of Tanzania, briefed on the Rotterdam
Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure with reference to its objectives,
operation and benefits to its Parties. He informed that the Rotterdam Convention was adopted
in 1998 and entered into force in February 2004. He mentioned that the overall objective of
the Convention is 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 their environmentally sound use. He
further said the Convention applies to chemicals banned or severely restricted to protect
human health or the environment by Parties; and severely hazardous pesticide formulations
(SHPF) and currently regulates 41 chemicals including 24 pesticides, 11 industrial chemicals
and 6 severely hazardous pesticide formulations (SHPF). On the other hand, he revealed that
the Convention does not apply to narcotics drugs, radioactive materials, wastes, chemical
weapons, pharmaceuticals, chemicals used as food additives, and food. He also pointed out
that the criteria for inclusion of chemicals into PIC procedure is more related to the adverse
effects of the chemicals to human health and the environment rather than number of incidents
of misuse.
Dr. Mashimba pointed out the institutional elements of the Convention which include
Designated National Authorities (DNAs), Conference of the Parties (COP), Chemical Review
Committee (CRC), and Secretariat. The Designated National Authorities (DNAs) are
responsible for the administrative functions required by the Convention; Conference of the
Parties (COP) is the highest authority of the Convention and oversees the implementation of
the Convention; Chemical Review Committee (CRC) is subsidiary body of the COP
responsible for reviewing notifications and proposals from Parties, and making
recommendations to the COP on the addition of chemicals to Annex III of the Convention;
Secretariat which is formed jointly by UNEP and FAO has the function of facilitating
meetings of the COP and its subsidiary bodies and liaising with the secretariats of other
international bodies.
Further, he outlined some of the key provisions of the Convention including PIC procedure
which provide for a national decision making process on import of hazardous chemicals in
Annex III and to ensure compliance with these decisions by exporting Parties and information
exchange on a broad range of potentially hazardous chemicals. He further briefed on the PIC
procedure whereby the COP decides to make a chemical subject to the PIC Procedure and
then Secretariat circulates a decision guidance document (DGD) to all Parties, Parties submit
import response for each chemical, Secretariat circulates all import responses to all Parties
through the PIC Circular, and finally Parties enforce import decision.
Dr. Mashimba highlighted some of the benefits to its Parties which include: early warning
system particularly on incidents (human poisoning and environmental damage) associated
with the use of severely hazardous pesticide formulations in other Parties; informed decision-
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