Notice No. 2757

18 November 2022

GG 47535

Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

I, Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (Acting), 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 further suspend the commencement, 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 set out in Government Notice R. 1513 of Government Gazette No. 45502 on 18 November 2021, for a further 120 days from the date of publication of this Notice in the Gazette.

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 shared 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 extension of the commencement period by a further 120 days is necessary to allow the Department to table the final regulations that will repeal and replace the above-mentioned regulations in Parliament as required by the Act and to ensure compliance with Article 5 of the Rotterdam Convention which requires, amongst others, that South Africa notify the Secretariat of the Convention of the implementation of these Regulations.

Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (Acting)