A/HRC/30/40 imposes restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression which encompasses the right to seek and receive information, these may not put in jeopardy the right itself (see general comment No. 34, para. 21). 72. States have taken various steps to help ensure the legitimacy of confidentiality claims with respect to hazardous substances and wastes. States have clarified that that information should be disclosed despite confidentiality of business information in cases where a substance is a hazardous chemical substance53 and environmental information should not be rendered confidential.54 73. To ensure access to an effective remedy for unjustified claims of confidentiality, States have implemented appeals mechanisms. Either an administrative appeals body or courts, or a combination of the two, are used by States. For example, in Mexico an administrative body (Federal Institute for Access to Information) handles appeals in the event of a denial. France and the United Kingdom also use administrative bodies for this purpose. The Republic of Korea and Ukraine allow appeals through the courts, and the United States uses administrative bodies for the first appeal, followed by the courts for further appeals. 74. Despite clarifying statements, appeals mechanisms and global agreement that health and safety information about hazardous substances should not be confidential, there remain serious problems with the confidentiality of information not serving the public interest by preventing access to health and safety information about hazardous substances and wastes. 5. To engage in international cooperation to help make information available and accessible 75. Under numerous legal instruments, States have a duty to engage in international cooperation to protect human rights, which includes efforts to protect human rights from impacts resulting from the misuse of hazardous substances and wastes. International trade in hazardous substances, whether as chemical products or as constituents of articles and waste, is accelerating driven in large part by globalization. Furthermore, many of the challenges to States to protect those within their territory from hazardous substances result from actions or inactions abroad, such as the export of products containing hazardous substances or the release of hazardous substances that can travel long distances through wind, water and food sources. 76. Lists of hazardous substances and information-sharing about their potential uses help to enable international cooperation on hazards and potential risks, particularly useful for countries with limited resources and businesses that prefer to avoid using or selling products with hazardous substances. The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade could be particularly useful in this respect. 77. In many ways, including some described above, States have cooperated with one another to share information over the past several years. However, economic interests continue to create obstacles for sharing information on hazardous substances and wastes internationally. 53 54 Republic of Korea, Enforcement Rules of the Act on the Regulation, Evaluation, etc. of Chemical Substances (2013), art. 35. Georgia, The General Administrative Code of Georgia (1999), art. 42. 17

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