Regulations to domesticate the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, 2021, no. 413.

These Regulations apply to importers and exporters of the chemical substances listed in the Annex and aim at: outlining the Prior Informed Consent procedure for the substances, in order to exchange information between countries; promoting shared responsibility and cooperative efforts in the international movement of the chemicals, in order to protect human and animal health and the environment from potential harmful effects; contributing to the environmentally sound use of the chemicals.
The Regulations define relevant terms, including: chemical, as any substance manufactured or obtained from nature, excluding any living organism and concerning the categories of pesticides and industrial chemicals; Designated National Authority, as the South African Department for environment responsible for authorisation and carrying out the requested administrative functions; Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure, as a mechanism of formally requesting, obtaining and disseminating decisions between countries of import and export. Matters covered by the Regulations include: general prohibitions; process for notification of import, export and transit of chemicals; decision of the designated Authority; reporting and record keeping; offences and penalties.