As part of international trade, the abbreviation PIC (Prior Informed Consent) is used to designate an information exchange procedure between the exporting and importing countries for some chemical products. After sharing information about the product, the company that wants to export must obtain explicit approval from the country that will be receiving the product.
This measure is required by default for products deemed very hazardous (that include the POPs – Persistent Organic Pollutants as an example). This is irrespective of the country legislation for these products.
The PIC - or Prior Informed Consent - procedure was formalised at the international level as part of the Rotterdam Convention and at the European level through regulation no. 649/2012 (also called "PIC regulations").