To protect human health and global environmental safety, enhance the exchange of chemical information in international trade, improve the safe use of chemicals and pesticides in various countries, and promote good management of chemicals and pesticides, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly adopted the "Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade" on September 10, 1998, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. This is commonly known as the "Rotterdam Convention" or "PIC Convention," and it officially came into effect on February 24, 2004.

• The Convention governs the international trade of hazardous chemicals, focusing on pesticides and industrial chemicals listed in Annex III.
• PIC procedure requires countries to notify and accept imports of these substances, ensuring safety decisions are honored.
• Export Notification ensures the receiving country is notified of the shipment of banned or severely restricted chemicals and can seek further information and protection measures.
• Core goals are improved information exchange, safe chemical management, clear hazard labeling, and enhanced global human health and environmental protection.

Suitable for international law, environmental policy, and public health education.

• Lists all 57 Annex III chemicals, classified into 38 pesticides, 18 industrial chemicals, and 1 chemical that appears in both categories.
• Special highlight for severely hazardous pesticide formulations and the inclusion of prominent industrial PFAS (PFOS, PFOA).
• Pesticide and industrial lists include classes such as organochlorines, organomercury, various forms of asbestos, brominated diphenyl ethers, and lead compounds.
• The diagram structure allows quick identification of category and regulatory focus.

Useful for international chemical regulation education, policy review, and hazardous substance management.

Conference of the Parties Meeting

The Conference of the Parties (COP) was established under Article 18 of the Rotterdam Convention and serves as its governing body. This body is made up of representatives from countries that have accepted, ratified, or acceded to the Convention. The COP plays a crucial role in advancing the implementation of the Convention through decisions made during its meetings. The COP is responsible for reviewing and evaluating how effectively the Convention is being implemented.

Previous meetings of the Conference of the Parties

Chemical Review Committee Meeting

The Chemical Review Committee (CRC) is a subsidiary body of the Rotterdam Convention. It reviews chemicals and pesticide formulations based on the criteria outlined in Annexes II and IV of the Convention. The CRC makes recommendations to the Conference of the Parties regarding the inclusion of these chemicals in Annex III.

Previous meetings of the Chemical Review Committee

Import Responses

Import responses are decisions made by Parties on whether they consent to import chemicals listed in Annex III of the Convention, which are subject to the PIC procedure. These responses are published in the PIC Circular every June and December and are accessible in the import responses database.

Database of Import Responses

Statistics of cases and notifying countries in each month of 2024 in Taiwan

Note：

1. The above number of cases is the number of goods cases
2. India is an export notification case, and the EU, the United States,  the United Kingdom, and Other European countries are import notification cases.