There are many types of controls that countries can impose on the possession and use of chemicals. Which of these actually constitutes a ban or severe restriction?
A. A ban is where all uses of the chemical have been prohibited. A severe restriction is where virtually all use of the chemical has been prohibited. The determination of whether a chemical has been severely restricted in line with the Convention will need to be determined on a case by case basis. For example: – There may be final regulatory actions that impact on the use of the chemical but which do not significantly change its use. For instance, the restriction of the use of a pesticide or an industrial chemical to certain qualified operators will limit the number of persons who can use the chemical but all of the uses that are approved for the chemical will remain unchanged. Therefore, this is not a severe restriction. – Similarly, the imposition of standards such as stringent environmental exposure limits, maximum residue limits (MRLs) or occupational exposure limits such as Threshold Limit Values (TLVs), do not by themselves modify the uses of the chemical and do not constitute a
