I thank the Chairman for his welcome. I have wanted to thank him and all members for facilitating us with a meeting today to enable this convention to be ratified.
The Department of Agriculture and Food is arranging for Ireland to accede to the Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent, PIC, procedure, for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade. For the Government to have Ireland accede to the Rotterdam Convention, the approval of Dáil Éireann is required. It is for this reason that the motion is before the committee.
I wish to give some background information on the Rotterdam Convention. In September 1998, the Rotterdam Convention for the application of the prior informed consent, PIC, procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade was concluded and signed by 73 parties, including the European Union and all its member states, except Ireland. The number of member states at the time was 15. Since manufacture of those hazardous chemicals and pesticides does not occur in this country, Ireland was not among the original member states to ratify the convention. The convention, which is jointly chaired by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNFAO, plant protection service and the UN Environment Programme, or UNEP, came into force on 24 February 2004, having received the required 50 instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
The convention has as its basic principle that the export of a banned or severely restricted chemical can take place only with the prior informed consent of the importing country. The convention's aim is to enhance promotion of the shared responsibility and co-operative efforts among parties in the international trade of such chemicals to protect human health and the environment from potential harm as well as contributing to their environmentally sound use. The chemicals subject to the prior informed consent procedure, of which there are currently 37, are listed in Annex 3 to the convention. Those chemicals are a mix of pesticides and industrial chemicals, with the majority in the former category. Since the Department of Agriculture and Food is responsible for the regulation of pesticides, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, through the Health and Safety Authority, for the regulation of industrial chemicals, the decision is being sought by both relevant Ministers.
The provisions of the Rotterdam Convention are incorporated into EU legislation through Regulation (EC) 304/2003, as amended, concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals. The convention covers chemical substances in the form of both pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been either banned or severely restricted by governmental regulatory action for health or environmental reasons. It has been examined by the pesticides control service of the Department of Agriculture and Food regarding pesticides and by the Health and Safety Authority under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment regarding industrial chemicals. Both are designated national authorities under the convention and it has been determined that the convention imposes an obligation on Ireland.
At present, none of the designated substances set out in Annex 3 to the convention is being manufactured here. Therefore, there are no regulatory implications for accession to the convention for Ireland. However, if the manufacture of one of the designated substances commences in Ireland, there will be an obligation on the country to comply with the convention by supplying information on the substance to the importing country and receiving the consent of that country before exporting the substance. Attendance at conferences of the parties to the convention will result in a charge to the State and a charge on public funds will, therefore, arise. In those circumstances, Article 29.5.2° of Bunreacht na hÉireann requires that Dáil Éireann approve the convention before the State may be bound by it.
Accession to the convention will not impose any other financial obligations on Ireland. The secretariat's budget is currently funded by a trust fund that receives contributions from several countries, including the EU, as well as transfers from the environment fund of UNEP and the regular programme resources of UNFAO.
All member states of the EU prior to enlargement, including Britain, have ratified or acceded to the convention. There are no negative implications in the context of North-South or east-west relations.
