At the 5th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (COP-5), held in Geneva, Switzerland from June 20 to 24, 2011, an expert of Korea was selected for a member of the Chemical Review Committee, which recommends international regulations on new chemical substances.
Since an official from the National Institute of Environmental Research of Korea was elected a vice-chairperson of the POPs Review Committee of the Stockholm Convention in April, 2011, it is the second achievement related to an international convention on chemical substances. Under the circumstances that international chemical substances management has become more significant, participating in the Chemical Review Committee implies the fact that Koreas capability to manage chemical substances is acknowledged at the international level.
Selected as a member of the committee, Korea can take part in regular meetings to recommend new regulations on chemical substances to COPs and other international meetings such as UN regional workshops and international conventions for synergy effects among the three international chemical conventions -- Rotterdam, Stockholm and Basel.
At the COP-5, it was agreed that three kinds of pesticide -- endosulfan, alachlor and aldicarb - should be added to the Annex III list. It occurred after the Chemical Review Committee included the three pesticides in the list of chemical substances, subject to regulations on international trade and each government recommended regulations.
According to the agreement, the revised convention will take effect from the second half of this year and the Korean government plans to notify domestic regulations on industrial chemicals to the convention secretariat and prepare for the implementation of the revised convention by modifying sub-regulations of the Agrochemicals Control Act.
source: apec-vc Korea