Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 4-7 July, a regional meeting on the ratification of the Rotterdam Convention was held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The event is organized by the Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention “On the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade” for states that are not parties to the convention.

The purpose of the event is to support the processes of accession of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Belarus, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to the Rotterdam Convention and to provide practical assistance to countries in this regard.

The regional meeting discussed the content of the Rotterdam Convention, the benefits, the results of accession to it and issues related to the control of international trade in hazardous chemicals and wastes in accordance with the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions. The participants also considered the activities of the FAO (FAO-Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), aimed at reducing the use of pesticides in the region.

At the meeting, along with other participants, representatives of Uzbekistan made a presentation on the national chemicals management system.

In addition, issues of improving legislation in the field of chemical safety, control over the circulation of pesticides and their containers, safe disposal of obsolete pesticides and the introduction of safer types were discussed.

It should be noted that Turkiye has developed a Plant Protection Products Stock Tracking Program to control the circulation of plant protection products from producers to consumers. In this case, the system displays information about the quality and quantity of pesticides from the importer, manufacturer, seller (wholesale and retail) and end user of chemicals, as well as information about used containers.

In addition, manufacturers and importers are responsible for the collection and disposal of expired pesticides.

In order to solve the problem of obsolete pesticides, Azerbaijan does not allow the import of drugs with a period of 6 months.