National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998)

Notice No. 1513

18 November 2021

GG 45502

Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

I, Barbara Dallas Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, in terms of section 25(3) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998), read together with section 10(3) of the Interpretation Act, 1957 (Act No. 33 of 1957), hereby suspends for a period of 12 months, from the date of publication of this Notice, the implementation of the Regulations to Domesticate the Requirements of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, as published in Government Notice No. R413 of Government Gazette No. 44558 on 12 May 2021.

The Regulations apply to importers and exporters of the chemicals listed in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention and to pesticides and industrial chemicals controlled under South African legislation.  The Regulations outline the prior informed consent procedure that enables countries to monitor and control trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides. This is to obtain and exchange information between countries regarding certain hazardous chemicals, including pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for human health, animal health and/or environmental reasons.  The Regulations also promote shares responsibility and cooperative efforts in the international movement of the chemicals listed, contribute to the environmentally sound use of the 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 other countries.

The 12-month suspension is necessary to allow sufficient time to ensure compliance with Article 5 of the Rotterdam Convention which requires amongst other things, that South Africa notify the Secretariat of the Convention of the implementation of these Regulations and to affect some necessary corrections to the Regulations

Barbara Dallas Creecy

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment