Council Decision (EU) 2025/860 of 14 April 2025 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade as regards certain amendments to that Convention and to Annex III thereto, and to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties to the Convention
Date: 2025-04-14
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: UN convention, chemical product, dangerous substance, environmental protection, export, import, international trade, pesticide, public health, revision of an agreement








L_202500860EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/860


12.5.2025







            COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2025/860
         
of 14 April 2025
         
on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade as regards certain amendments to that Convention and to Annex III thereto, and to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties to the Convention


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 192(1) and Article 207(4), first subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,


Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:







(1)


The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade (1) (the ‘Convention’) entered into force on 24 February 2004 and was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision 2006/730/EC (2).












(2)


Pursuant to Article 7 of the Convention, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (the ‘Conference of the Parties’) is empowered to adopt decisions to list chemicals in Annex III to the Convention (‘Annex III’).












(3)


At its twelfth meeting, the Conference of the Parties is expected to adopt decisions to list further chemicals in Annex III, namely, acetochlor, carbosulfan, chlorpyrifos, chrysotile asbestos, fenthion (ultra low volume (ULV) formulations at or above 640 g active ingredient/L), iprodione, liquid formulations (emulsifiable concentrate and soluble concentrate) containing paraquat dichloride at or above 276 g/L corresponding to paraquat ion at or above 200 g/L, mercury, methyl bromide and paraquat.












(4)


In order to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties to the Convention in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals so as to protect human health and the environment from potential harm and to contribute to their environmentally sound use, it is necessary to list in Annex III further chemicals that were found to meet all relevant criteria. It is therefore appropriate to support the listing of acetochlor, carbosulfan, chlorpyrifos, chrysotile asbestos, fenthion (ultra low volume (ULV) formulations at or above 640 g active ingredient/L), iprodione, liquid formulations (emulsifiable concentrate and soluble concentrate) containing paraquat dichloride at or above 276 g/L corresponding to paraquat ion at or above 200 g/L, mercury, methyl bromide and paraquat in Annex III.












(5)


Pursuant to the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties, any item on the agenda of an ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties the consideration of which was not completed during the meeting should be included automatically in the provisional agenda of the next ordinary meeting, unless otherwise decided by the Conference of the Parties. A Party to the Convention has indicated that it aims to change the Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties in order to avoid that discussions on listing further chemicals in Annex III that are not concluded during a meeting are automatically included on the agenda of the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties.












(6)


The proposal by several Parties to the Convention to amend Article 16 of the Convention on technical assistance, which envisages to broaden the scope by also addressing financial assistance, in particular assistance by the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF) and financial assistance by Parties, with the objective of supporting, in particular, developing countries, seems to be unnecessary since all Parties to the Convention are to implement the integrated approach to financing, the GEF already addresses aspects of the Convention and Parties can already provide contributions to the voluntary trust fund of the Convention to support provision of technical assistance to developing country Parties.












(7)


It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as the decisions will be binding on the Union or capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, namely Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3),





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade (the ‘Conference of the Parties’) shall be to support the adoption of the amendments to Annex III to the Convention as regards the inclusion of acetochlor, carbosulfan, chlorpyrifos, chrysotile asbestos, fenthion (ultra low volume (ULV) formulations at or above 640 g active ingredient/L), iprodione, liquid formulations (emulsifiable concentrate and soluble concentrate) containing paraquat dichloride at or above 276 g/L corresponding to paraquat ion at or above 200 g/L, mercury, methyl bromide and paraquat.


Article 2
If a Party to the Convention proposes amending Rule 16 of the Rules of Procedures for the Conference of the Parties so as to provide that any item on the agenda the consideration of which was not completed at an ordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties is not to be included automatically in the provisional agenda of the next ordinary meeting, unless otherwise decided by the Conference of the Parties, the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf shall be not to support such an amendment.


Article 3
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties shall be not to support the proposal to amend Article 16 of the Convention on technical assistance by adding a reference to the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund and to financial support granted by the Parties.


Article 4
Refinements of the positions referred to in Articles 1, 2 and 3, in light of the developments at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, may be agreed upon by representatives of the Union, in consultation with the Member States, during on-the-spot coordination meetings without a further decision of the Council.


Article 5
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.




Done at Luxembourg, 14 April 2025.


For the Council


The President

K. KALLAS
            





(1)  
            OJ L 63, 6.3.2003, p. 27, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/convention/2003/106/oj.

(2)  Council Decision 2006/730/EC of 25 September 2006 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade (OJ L 299, 28.10.2006, p. 23, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2006/730/oj).

(3)  Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals (OJ L 201, 27.7.2012, p. 60, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/649/oj).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/860/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)