Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists : List-I (International Convention) A. Stockholm Convention B. Minamata Convention C. Basel Convention D. Rotterdam Convention List-II (Theme) 1. Hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade 2. Persistent organic pollutants 3. Binding instrument on mercury 4. Transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal Code :

Correct — D, A-2 B-3 C-4 D-1. Each of the four treaties has a single, unmistakable subject. The Stockholm Convention of 2001 governs persistent organic pollutants — the long-lived, bioaccumulating chemicals that began with the so-called dirty dozen — so A pairs with 2. The Minamata Convention of 2013 is the world's binding instrument on mercury, named after the Japanese bay where industrial mercury discharge poisoned a fishing community, so B pairs with 3. The Basel Convention of 1989 controls the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal, so C pairs with 4. The Rotterdam Convention of 1998 governs hazardous chemicals and pesticides moving in international trade through its prior informed consent procedure, so D pairs with 1. Only option (d) carries all four.

• (a)A-1 B-4 C-3 D-2 — Sends Stockholm to the trade-in-chemicals theme and Rotterdam to persistent organic pollutants, exactly reversing the two treaties that are easiest to confuse, and misplaces Minamata and Basel as well.
• (b)A-1 B-3 C-4 D-2 — Gets Minamata and Basel right but starts from the wrong end, pairing Stockholm with international trade in chemicals, which is Rotterdam's subject.
• (c)A-2 B-4 C-3 D-1 — Opens correctly with Stockholm and persistent organic pollutants, then swaps Minamata and Basel, giving mercury to the waste convention and waste to the mercury convention.

Four multilateral environmental agreements deal with chemicals and waste, and they divide the field cleanly. Basel is about waste crossing borders. Rotterdam is about chemicals and pesticides crossing borders in trade. Stockholm is about a named list of persistent organic pollutants that have to be eliminated or restricted. Minamata is about one element, mercury, across its entire life cycle from mining to disposal. Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm are administered together from Geneva and are often referred to as a single cluster because their subject matter overlaps at the edges.

The pairing that decides this item is Stockholm against Rotterdam, because both are about hazardous chemicals and a candidate who has only half-learned them will guess. The distinction is the verb. Rotterdam regulates the act of trading — an exporting country must obtain the importing country's prior informed consent before shipping a listed chemical or pesticide. Stockholm regulates the substances themselves, requiring parties to eliminate or restrict production and use of the listed persistent organic pollutants regardless of who is trading with whom. Once that is fixed, Minamata is unmistakable and Basel takes the remaining slot. The same paper returns to this cluster at question 100, which asks in one line what the three of them are collectively about.

• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal — adopted 1989, in force 1992.
• Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade — adopted 1998, in force 2004.
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants — adopted 2001, in force 2004; it began with an initial list of twelve substances.
• Minamata Convention on Mercury — adopted 2013, in force 2017; India ratified it in 2018.
• Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm share a joint secretariat at Geneva and hold their conferences of the parties back to back.

• Swapping Stockholm and Rotterdam, the single most common error in this family of questions.
• Assuming Minamata is about a place or a disease rather than a treaty on mercury.
• Reaching for Montreal or Kyoto, which belong to the ozone and climate families and are not on this list.

As a four-by-four match, which means one confidently known pair can eliminate two options at a stroke — start with the pair you are surest of.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The prior informed consent procedure for trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides belongs to which convention?

  • (a)Basel
  • (b)Rotterdam
  • (c)Stockholm
  • (d)Minamata

  Answer(b) Rotterdam — it regulates the act of exporting a listed chemical, not the chemical itself.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Minamata Convention deals with

  • (a)lead
  • (b)arsenic
  • (c)mercury
  • (d)cadmium

  Answer(c) mercury — named after the Japanese bay where industrial mercury discharge poisoned a fishing community.