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Objectives
The objectives of this Code are to set forth responsibilities and establish voluntary
standards of conduct for all public and private entities engaged in or affecting the
distribution and use of pesticides, particularly where there is no national law or only an
inadequate law to regulate pesticides.
Specifically, the Code seeks:
to promote practices which ensure efficient and safe use of pesticides while
minimizing health and environmental concern;
to establish responsible and generally accepted trade practices;
to assist countries which have not established controls designed to regulate the
quality and suitability of pesticide products needed in that country;
to ensure that pesticides are used effectively for the improvement of agricultural
production and of human, animal, and plant health;
to implement, internationally, an 'information exchange and Prior Informed Consent
(PIC) procedure' requiring that no international shipment of a pesticide which has been
banned or severely restricted by a country in order to protect human health or the
environment should proceed without the agreement of the importing country.
Scope
Legal scope
The Code was adopted unanimously by the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) nations; associate membership to territories or groups of territories. The European Union is given
membership as a regional integration organization and can vote on behalf of its member
countries in certain matters.
Geographic
scope
Global.
Time and place of adoption
19 November 1985, Rome.
Entry into force
Non-mandatory. However, at the request of its member countries and in co-operation
with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), with which it operates a joint
programme on PIC, FAO has been seeking consensus in converting PIC into a legally
binding instrument (see Affiliated instruments and organizations, below). After two
years of negotiations, the Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (PIC Convention) was
adopted and signed by 61 states. An Interim Resolution calls for changes to be made to
the voluntary PIC procedure to bring it in line with the PIC procedure as described in the
Convention text.
Status
of participation
Not applicable. FAO, which has adopted the Code, had 175 members, including the
European Union, by June 1999.
Affiliated instruments and
organizations
he Code was amended in 1989 to include the principle of Prior Informed Consent
(PIC), which is particularly related to the control of pesticide imports into and exports to
developing countries. By June 1999, 166 countries had nominated 232 designated
national authorities (DNA) for the implementation of the PIC procedure. The Code is
supported by a comprehensive set of technical guidelines on all aspects of pesticide
management and control.
The Code is directed at many segments of society, including governments, industry,
trade, and interested public-sector organizations and international organizations. FAO, in
close collaboration with other UN agencies such as UNEP, the World Health
Organization (WHO), and the International Labour Organization (ILO), assists
governments to implement the Code. The PIC Convention will come into force only
after deposit of the 50th ratification. Given the need to implement the new procedure
immediately, delegates adopted at the Diplomatic Conference in September 1998 an
Interim Resolution which asks the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to
oversee the implementation of the interim PIC procedure.
Co-ordination with related instruments The FAO Conference authorized the Director-General to establish a programme jointly
with UNEP for the implementation of PIC procedures. The voluntary PIC procedures
have been transformed into the legally binding Convention on the Prior Informed
Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International
Trade (PIC Convention).
Secretariat
Plant Protection Service
Pesticide Management Unit
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
I-00100 Rome,
Italy
Telephone: +39-06-57053441
Telefax: +39-06-57056347
Chief, Plant Protection Service
Dr Niek A. van der Graaff.
Pesticides Information Officer
Mr Gerold Wyrwal.
Decision-making bodies
Political
The FAO Conference, which meets every two years, reviews the Code and makes
recommendations to promote its implementation. The Conference is the major
policy-making organ of FAO.
Scientific/technical
FAO and UNEP have established a Joint Expert Group on Prior Informed Consent. The
Group is composed of independent experts, representing themselves and not their
government, and selected by FAO, based on defined criteria. The function of the Group
is to provide advice and guidance for the implementation of PIC, and to prepare and
review DGDs and other technical matters. The first meeting of the Group was held in
December 1989. Up to December 1996 the Group had met eight times. No further
meetings were held.
Publications
The Code has been published as a booklet. Current information on its operation and
implementation is made through reports to the FAO Conference, and reports of
meetings and workshops are available from FAO. Additional guidelines on the Code are
available from FAO.
FAO distributes an updated list of DNAs and a circular to DNAs twice a year that
summarizes the import status in participating countries of pesticides and industrial
chemicals subject to the PIC procedure, and outlines of follow-up actions expected in
those countries.
Sources on the Internet
http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/agricult/agp/agpp/pesticid
http://www.fao.org/pic
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