ASrIA - Regulatory Trends with Global Influence

As one of the most widely adopted and implemented conventions, the Vienna Convention was adopted in 1985 by nations that agreed in principle to take "appropriate measures...to protect human health and the environment against adverse effects resulting or likely to result from human activities which modify or are likely to modify the Ozone Layer." The main thrust of the Convention was to encourage research and overall cooperation among countries and exchange of information. Series of scientific findings, followed by continued media coverage, turned out to be extremely helpful for experts exploring specific measures to urge the world to take more critical action. As a result, nations finally agreed to take specific measures in September 1987 and signed the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. 191 countries later ratified the Convention as of January 2006. The full text of the Montreal Protocol can be found on the following webpage: http://ozone.unep.org/Publications/Handbooks/VC_Handbook_2006.pdf

The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty adopted in September 1987 under the Vienna Convention, and as of January 2007, 191 countries have ratified the Protocol. It was designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances that have been scientifically proven responsible for ozone depletion. Following a series of amendments, the Montreal Protocol decided to form a mechanism for phasing out ozone depleting substances and control measures that cover both the production and consumption of the target substances. The Montreal Protocol including a number of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbon) and several Halons presently controls 96 chemicals. The phase-out schedules vary depending on substances and the economic state of a country, with limited scope of exemption allowed such as the purpose of use or existence of an economical alternative.

In June 1990, it was agreed to establish a financial mechanism to facilitate the implementation of the Protocol. The Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol functions as part of this mechanism. The fund finances incremental costs incurred by developing countries in phasing out their consumption and production of ozone-depleting substances. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) also supports projects and activities phasing-out ozone-depleting substances in countries with economies in transition. The full text of the Montreal Protocol can be found on the following webpage: http://ozone.unep.org/pdfs/Montreal-Protocol2000.pdf

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
http://www.basel.int

The Basel Convention was adopted in 1989 as the first of the three conventions developed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in response to rising concerns about toxic waste dumped by industrialized countries in developing countries or countries in transition. The Convention was initiated on 5 May 1992 with the following key objectives: (1) to minimize the generation of hazardous waste in terms of quantity and hazard; (2) to dispose of waste as close to its source of generation as possible; and (3) to reduce the movement of hazardous wastes.

During its first decade, the Convention was principally devoted to setting up a framework for controlling the "transboundary" movement of hazardous wastes across international frontiers. It also developed: (1) the criteria for 'environmentally sound management' taking an 'integrated life-cycle approach', which is applied from the generation of a hazardous waste to its storage, transport, treatment, reuse, recycling, recovery and final disposal; and (2) 'A Control System' that requires prior written notification for transboundary movement of hazardous wastes. More recently, the Basel Convention has put more focus on full implementation and enforcement of treaty commitments and the minimization of hazardous waste generation, recognizing that the long-term solution is a reduction in the generation of those wastes - both in terms of quantity and degree of hazard. 169 parties participated in the Convention as of December 2006. The full text of the Basel Convention can be found on the following webpage: http://www.basel.int/text/con-e-rev.pdf

The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention)
http://www.ospar.org/eng/html/welcome.html

The OSPAR Convention acts to guide international cooperation on the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. It was established in September 1992 and entered into force in March 1998. As of January 2007, 15 contracting parties and the European Commission have signed and ratified the Convention. Work under the Convention applies an ecosystem approach to the management of human activities and is organised under six strategic areas: (1) protection and conservation of marine biodiversity and ecosystems; (2) eutrophication; (3) hazardous substances; (4) offshore oil and gas Industry; (5) radioactive substances; and (6) monitoring and assessment.

The Hazardous Substances Committee (HSC) was established by OSPAR 2000 to facilitate the implementation of the OSPAR Hazardous Substances Strategy. The main objective of the Strategy is to prevent pollution of maritime areas by continuously reducing discharges, emissions and the loss of hazardous substances, with the ultimate goal to remove man-made synthetic substances from the marine environment. To implement this Strategy, the OSPAR Commission publishes: (a) a 'List of Chemicals for Priority Action' and (b) a 'List of Substances of Possible Concern.' The OSPAR List of Substances of Possible Concern is regularly revised as new information on persistence, toxicity and liability to bioaccumulate (or evidence that they give rise to an equivalent level of concern) becomes available.

The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (Rotterdam PIC Convention)
http://www.pic.int/

The Rotterdam Convention is a multilateral legally-binding environmental agreement adopted in September 1998. With 73 signatories and 112 parties, the Convention entered into force in February 2004. The objectives of the Convention are:

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 the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals, by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by disseminating these decisions to Parties.

39 chemicals are currently listed in Annex III of the Convention and are subject to the PIC procedure including: 24 pesticides, 4 severely hazardous pesticide formulations and 11 industrial chemicals. The Conference of the Parties decides on the inclusion of additional chemicals to Annex III, based on recommendations made by the Chemical Review Committee. Once a chemical is included in the Annex, a 'decision guidance document' containing information concerning the chemical and the regulatory decisions to ban or severely restrict the chemical for health or environmental reasons, is circulated to all Parties. Parties have nine months to prepare a response concerning the future import of the chemical. Decisions by an importing country must be trade neutral. The import decisions are circulated and exporting country Parties are obligated to take appropriate measures to ensure that exporters within its jurisdiction comply with the decisions. The full text of the Rotterdam Convention can be found on the following webpage: http://www.pic.int/en/ConventionText/ONU-GB.pdf.

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
http://www.pops.int/

The Stockholm Convention entered into force on 17 May 2004. As of December 2006, 152 signatories have ratified and 137 have jointed as parties. The Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are highly toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative, and moving long distances in the environment. The Convention aims to: (1) minimize and ultimately eliminate the release and the use of POPs starting with the 12 most harmful including 9 pesticides such as DDT, two industrial chemicals, PCBs and HCB, and a set of unintentional chemical by-products such as dioxin; (2) support the transition to safer alternatives; (3) target additional POPs for action; (4) clean-up any stockpiles and equipment containing POPs; and (5) work together for a POP-free future. This POP website functions as an information exchange not only on POPs but also alternatives and techniques that may represent approaches for replacing or reducing/eliminating releases of POPs. The full text of the Stockholm Convention can be found on the following webpage: http://www.pops.int/documents/convtext/convtext_en.pdf

The EU Cosmetics Directive (76/768/EEC), adopted in 1976, and its amendments require that any cosmetic product be safe for its intended use, and that the responsibility for presenting such proof rests completely with the manufacturer or importer. In January 2003, the directive was amended to ban the use of chemicals that are known or strongly suspected of carcinogens, reproductive toxins and mutagens causing cancer, mutation or birth defects. Companies were required to remove these chemicals from cosmetic products sold in the EU or reformulate by September 2004.

The EU RoHS directive 2002/95/EC written in February 2003 took effect on 1 July 2006. The RoHS regulation restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. These hazardous substances include - lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium VI (known as hexavalent chromium), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). PBB and PBDE are flame retardants used in some plastics. The RoHS is applicable to all new products made in the EU or imported from abroad.

The main goal of the RoHS regulation is to reduce the risks to health and the environment from hazardous substances by encouraging the substitution of those materials to safe/or safer alternatives in the electric and electronic equipment industry. Restricting the use of these materials is likely to decrease toxic waste as well. This is why the RoHS and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE), which sets collection, recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods, are closely linked.

The EU's strong push for the RoHS directive has created pressure on other countries and states to develop similar legislation. In the US, the state of California, using the EU RoHS directive as its guide, adopted similar legislation that took effect as of 1 January 2007. In addition, some Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea, have already adopted similar laws as the RoHS or are preparing legislation for the near future.

The EU WEEE, directive 2002/96/EC, together with the RoHS directive, is part of a legislative initiative to solve the problem of the rapidly increasing waste stream of electrical and electronic equipment. This directive complements EU measures on landfill and waste incineration. The objective of the WEEE directive is (a) the prevention of electrical and electronic equipment waste, and (b) the reuse, recycling and recovery of such wastes to reduce disposal levels. It also seeks to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment, e.g. producers, distributors and consumers and, in particular, those operators directly involved in the treatment of electrical and electronic equipment waste.

Under the directive, producers will be responsible for taking back and recycling electrical and electronic equipment. This will provide incentives to design electrical and electronic equipment in an environmentally more efficient way that takes aspects of waste management fully into account. Consumers will be able to return their equipment free of charge.

The REACH regulation was formally adopted on 18 December 2006 by the EU and set to be implemented on 1 June 2007. REACH aims to (1) protect human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the properties of chemical substances, (2) shift the EU chemicals industry into a sustainable and competent one, and (3) to comply with the global commitment to Sustainable Development agreed on at the 2002 World Summit. REACH provides greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances.

Registration: Each producer and importer of chemicals in volumes of 1 tonne or more per year - around 30,000 chemical substances - will be required to register with a new EU Chemicals Agency, submitting information on properties, uses and proper handling.
Evaluation: The public authorities will look in more detail at dossiers and substances of concern, requesting more information if necessary.
Authorisation: Specific authorization will be required for chemicals that cause cancer, mutations or reproductive problems, or that accumulate in human bodies and the environment. This will encourage the progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives as they are identified

As the central point in the REACH system, the new EU Chemicals Agency will run the databases necessary to operate the system, co-ordinate the in-depth evaluation of suspicious chemicals and run a public database in which consumers and professionals can find hazard information.