The dramatic growth in chemicals production and trade over the past three decades has raised concerns about the risks posed by hazardous chemicals and pesticides. Countries lacking adequate infrastructure to monitor the import and use of these chemicals are particularly vulnerable. The Rotterdam Convention grew out of voluntary information-exchange programmes developed in the 1980s by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). By the time of the 1992 Earth Summit, Governments and environmental organizations had concluded that mandatory controls should be applied to the trade of some chemicals and pesticides. Governments meeting in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, subsequently adopted the Convention on 10 September 1998. It entered into force on 24 February 2004.