Explicit consent requirement

In addition to the notification requirement, the export of chemicals included in parts 2 and 3 of Annex I to the PIC Regulation are also subject to the existence of a valid explicit consent granted by the Designated National Authority (DNA) of the importing country outside the EU. A waiver might be granted only under exceptional circumstances:

  • If the importing country has not responded within 60 days from the date of requesting an explicit consent, and all the conditions laid down in Article 14 (7) of Regulation 649/2012 are fulfilled, the exporter can propose a waiver from the explicit consent obligations.
  • If the notified chemical is listed in Part 2 of Annex I and to be exported to an OECD country, a proposal to waive the explicit consent may be considered. In order to request such waiver, the exporter must provide documentary evidence that the chemical is licensed, registered or authorised in the OECD country concerned.
 

For chemicals in part 3 of the Annex, this requirement does not apply when a positive import response is published in the PIC circular of the Rotterdam Convention, and certain criteria are met.

An explicit consent remains valid for subsequent exports during a period of three calendar years, unless otherwise specified in the conditions of the explicit consent itself. For those three years, any company in the EU may export the same chemical to the country that has granted the explicit consent (provided that the terms of the consent allow for this), but still needs to meet the annual notification and reporting requirements. ECHA maintains a database of all existing and new notifications and explicit consent responses.