The Africa Institute for Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous and Other Wastes, South Africa in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria has organized an inception workshop on “Legal Gap Analysis of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in international Trade”. The workshop was held on 27 September, 2018, at the Rockview Hotel, Wuse 2, Abuja.

It is the first in a proposed series of project activities on Legal Gap Analysis of the Rotterdam Convention and its implementation in Nigeria. The need for the project arose in recognition of the challenges faced by developing countries in meeting their obligations to the Rotterdam Convention. The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) provided funding for this pilot project in the African Region, using selected English-speaking countries (Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania) as case studies.
The main objectives of the project are to develop strategies to strengthen the legal framework for effective implementation of the Rotterdam Convention in Nigeria.
Specifically;
• To assist Nigeria in strengthening its legal capacity for implementation of the Rotterdam Convention, through an in-depth understanding of the current legal and regulatory frameworks.

• To identify and assess the gaps in the legal and regulatory framework, hampering the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention.

• To propose strategies for implementation based on the legal gap assessment.