National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998) Regulations Regulations to domesticate the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in International Trade, 2021 Chapter 1 : Definitions, Purposes and Applications of the Regulations 1. Definitions

 

In these Regulations any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act has that meaning, and unless the context indicates otherwise—

 

"chemical"

means any substance whether by itself or in a mixture or preparation, whether manufactured or obtained from nature, excluding any living organism, in the following categories:

 

"consent"

means a permission issued by the Designated National Authority to import, or export a hazardous chemical listed in Annexure Ito these Regulations;

 

"country of export"

means a country from which the transboundary movement of a hazardous chemical is planned to be initiated or is initiated;

 

"country of Import"

means a country to which a hazardous chemical(s) is planned to be transported to as a final destination;

 

"Designated National Authority (DNA)"

means an organisation granted responsibility by its national government to authorise and carry out the administrative functions required by these Regulations. The South African DNA is the Department responsible for the environment;

 

"export"

in relation to the Republic, means to take out or transfer, or attempt to take out or transfer, from a place within the Republic to another country or to international waters, but excludes mere transit operations;

 

"exporter"

means a person who sends or transports or intends to send or transport a chemical(s) from the Republic to another country;

 

"export notification"

means a process whereby a country of export notifies the country of import or country of transit DNA of its intention to send a chemical listed in Annexure Ito these Regulations is to the country of import and provides information thereon;

 

"final regulatory action"

means a legal action taken to ban or severely restrict a chemical listed in Annexure I to these Regulations and does not require subsequent regulatory action;

 

"Import"

in relation to the Republic, means to land on, bring into or introduce to the Republic, or to attempt to land on, bring into or introduce into the Republic, and includes to bring to the Republic for reexport to a place outside the Republic, but excludes mere transit operations;

 

"Importer"

means a person who receives or intends to receive a hazardous chemical(s) into the Republic other than receipt for transit;

 

"Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure"

is a mechanism of formally requesting, obtaining and disseminating the decisions of the country of import, as to whether a chemical intended to be exported to the country of import, meets the requirements for import, and for ensuring compliance with these decisions by the country of export;

 

"these Regulations"

means the Regulations for domestication of the requirements of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure for Certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade, promulgated in terms of section 25(3) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998);

 

"Rotterdam Convention"

means the Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, which entered into force on 10 September 1998 and includes the Annexes to the Convention, and any amendments to, or substitutions of, those documents that are or will become binding on party to the Rotterdam Convention;

 

"Safety Data Sheet (SDS)"

means a document aligned to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) that provides information on the hazard classification and properties of hazardous chemicals, and procedures for handling or working with them, with reference to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, (Act 85 of 1993);

 

"severely restricted chemical"

means a chemical of which virtually all use has been prohibited by final regulatory action, in order to protect human health or environment, but for which certain specific uses remain allowed;

 

"the Act"

means the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998); and

 

"transit"

means the continuous passage, movement or transportation of a chemical from a country of origin, through one of the South African port of entries whether by sea or land, whether through a major or a minor port of entry, and through another such port of entry, without storage other than strict temporary storage of maximum of 60 days, in a secure area where no chemicals can be released, incidental to transportation to the country of destination.