ECHA recommends more transparency in trade of hazardous chemicals

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published its third report on the operation of the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulation in October 2023. In the report, ECHA recommends more transparency in the trade of hazardous chemicals.

About the PIC Regulation

The PIC Regulation regulates the export and import of hazardous chemicals and pesticides between the European Union (EU) and non-EU countries. Within the EU, the Regulation implements the Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed procedure in international trade and it places obligations primarily on companies exporting these chemicals to non-EU countries.

Findings of ECHA’s Report

ECHA’s report shows that despite a slight decrease in export notifications the workload for implementing the PIC Regulation is still increasing. This increase is attributed to the continuous addition of new chemicals subject to PIC and the growing number of substances that require explicit consent from non-EU importing countries prior toexport.

The report highlights the challenges posed by newly added chemicals, such as substances containing benzene (the first "substance in substance") and neonicotinoids harmful to bees, resulting in numerous notifications and new types of exports. There has also been an increase in public requests for data on the trade of hazardous substances collected under the PIC Regulation.

In response to these findings, ECHA recommends that future revision of the PIC Regulation should include:

• Definition of which parts of export notifications should be made public.

• Clarification of the trade information to be included in the annual reports at EU level.

• Improving the predictability and clarity through amendments to the legal text and implementation practices.

Sharon McGuinness, ECHA’s Executive Director, highlights the growing interest in the export of hazardous chemicals from the EU in recent years. She says "The ongoing evaluation of the regulation offers a good opportunity to improve the impact and transparency of PIC." McGuinness adds, "Our recommendations aim at a more transparent and effective implementation of the regulation, which controls the trade of hazardous chemicals."

The full report is available here.