POPs and Human Health

i) production and use of the chemicals listed in Annex A subject to the provisions of that Annex;

ii) import and export of the chemicals listed in Annex A;

(Annex A - exceptions)

Restrict production and use of the chemicals listed in Annex B in accordance with the provisions of that Annex.

(Annex B - exceptions and acceptable uses)

A Party shall take measures to ensure that a chemical listed in Annex A or Annex B is imported only:

i) For the purpose of environmentally sound disposal, or

ii) For a use or purpose which is permitted for that Party under Annex A or Annex B

A Party shall take measures to ensure, that a chemical listed in Annex A for which any production or use specific exemption is in effect or a chemical listed in Annex B for which any production or use specific exemption or acceptable purpose is in effect, taking into account any relevant provisions in existing international prior informed consent instruments (Basle Convention and Rotterdam Convention), is exported only:

i) For the purpose of environmentally sound disposal;

ii) To a Party which is permitted to use that chemical under Annex A or Annex B.

Annex A (elimination)

An exemption is registered for Party 1

An exemption is not registered for Party 2

A chemical listed in Annex A for which any production or use specific exemption is in effect shall not be exported unless for the purpose of environmentally sound disposal.

Annex B (restriction) - DDT

An exemption of an acceptable purpose are registered for Party 3

An exemption of an acceptable purpose are not registered for Party 4

Export is permitted only to such a State not Party to this Convention which has provided an annual certification to the exporting Party. Such certification shall specify the intended use of the chemical and include a statement that, with respect to that chemical, the importing State is committed to:

а. Protect human health and the environment by taking the necessary measures to minimise or prevent releases;

b. Comply with the provisions of the Convention of Hazardous Waste;

с. Use DDT only for elimination of disease vectors;

The certification shall also include any appropriate supporting documentation, such as legislation, regulatory instruments, or administrative or policy guidelines. The exporting Party shall transmit the certification to the Secretariat within sixty days of receipt;

Each Party that has one or more regulatory and assessment schemes for new pesticides or new industrial chemicals shall take measures to regulate with the aim of preventing the production and use of new pesticides or new industrial chemicals which, taking into consideration the criteria in paragraph 1 of Annex D, exhibit the characteristics of persistent organic pollutants.

Laboratory-scale research

The above requirements shall not apply to quantities of a chemical to be used for laboratory-scale research or as a reference standard.

Register of specific exemptions

The Register defines specific exemptions of Annex A and Annex B.

The Register is being maintained by the Secretariat and is open for the general public.

The Register incorporates: a list of the types of specific exemptions, a list of the Parties that have a specific exemption and a list of the expiry dates for each registered specific exemption.

Exemptions shall be registered by means of a notification in writing to the Secretariat.

Exemptions shall be in force for not more than 5 years, however the Conference of the Parties may extend relevant validity terms.

When there are no longer any Parties registered for a particular type of specific exemption, no new registrations may be made with respect to it.

(Interim arrangements - Parties may register specific exemptions before the opening date of Stockholm Conference)

Unintentional production

Reduction of total releases derived from anthropogenic sources of each of the chemicals listed in Annex C by:

Release limit values or performance standards may be used by a Party to fulfil its commitments for best available techniques.

The major aim - to reduce emissions instead of eliminating consequences

Stockpiles and wastes

Development of appropriate strategies for identifying:

i) Stockpiles consisting of or containing persistent organic chemicals; and

ii) Products and articles in use and wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants;

Identification of POPs' stockpiles.

Ensuring safe management of stockpiles and wastes.

Wastes, including articles and goods, considered as waste, shall be:

i) Handled, collected, transported and stored in an environmentally sound manner;

ii) Disposed of in such a way that the persistent organic pollutant content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed (accounting for provisions of Basle Convention);

iii) Not permitted to be subjected to disposal operations that may lead to recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct reuse or alternative uses of persistent organic pollutants;

iv) Not transported across international boundaries without taking into account relevant international rules, standards and guidelines;

Development of appropriate strategies for identifying contaminated sites.

The Resolution of Stockholm Convention: Basle Convention should develop technical guidelines for environmentally sound disposal of wastes, containing POPs;

Each Party shall develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its obligations under this Convention and shall transmit its implementation plan to the Conference of the Parties within two years of the date on which this Convention enters into force for it. Each Party shall review and update its implementation plan on a periodic basis.

The Parties shall, where appropriate, co-operate directly or through global, regional and subregional organisations, and consult their national stakeholders, including women’s groups and groups involved in the health of children, in order to facilitate the development, implementation and updating of their implementation plans.

Listing of chemicals in Annexes A, B and C

A Party may submit a proposal to the Secretariat for listing a chemical.

Secretariat - the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (see selection criteria in Annex D) - Parties and observers - the Conference of the Parties - (assessment of risk management if necessary) - incorporation into the Convention.

Information exchange

Each Party shall undertake the exchange of information relevant to:

а) Reduction or elimination of production, uses and emissions of persistent organic pollutants,

b) Alternatives to persistent organic pollutants.

Each Party shall designate a national focal point for the exchange of such information.

The Secretariat shall serve as a clearing-house mechanism for information on persistent organic pollutants, including information provided by Parties, intergovernmental organisations and non-governmental organisations.

For the purposes of this Convention, information on health and safety of humans and the environment shall not be regarded as confidential.

Public information, awareness and education

Each Party shall, within its capabilities, promote and facilitate:

а) awareness among its policy and decision makers with regard to persistent organic pollutants;

b) Provision to the public of all available information on persistent organic pollutants;

с) Development and implementation, especially for women, children and the least educated, of educational and public awareness programmes on persistent organic pollutants, as well as on their health and environmental effects and on their alternatives;

d) Public participation in addressing persistent organic pollutants and their health and environmental effects and in developing adequate responses, including opportunities for providing input at the national level regarding implementation of this Convention;

е) Training of workers, scientists, educators and technical and managerial personnel;

f) Development and exchange of educational and public awareness materials at the national and international levels; and

g) Development and implementation of education and training programmes at the national and international levels.

Each Party shall, within its capabilities, ensure that the public has access to the above public information and that the information is kept up-to-date.

Each Party shall, within its capabilities, encourage industry and professional users to promote and facilitate the provision of the above information at the national level and, as appropriate, subregional, regional and global levels.

In providing information on persistent organic pollutants and their alternatives, Parties may use safety data sheets, reports, mass media and other means of communication, and may establish information centres at national and regional levels.

Each Party shall give sympathetic consideration to developing mechanisms, such as pollutant release and transfer registers, for the collection and dissemination of information on estimates of the annual quantities of the chemicals listed in Annex A, B or C that are released or disposed of.

Research, development and monitoring

The Parties shall, within their capabilities, at the national and international levels, encourage and/or undertake appropriate research, development, monitoring and co-operation pertaining to persistent organic pollutants.

Technical assistance

Co-operation for capacity building purposes. Additional guidelines on the mater will be provided by the Conference of the Parties.

Development of mechanisms (regional and subregional centres for capacity building and technology transfer).

Financial resources and mechanisms (developing countries and economies in transition)

Finance support for national actions

Finance resources to cover additional expenses.

A mechanism for the provision financial resources on a grant or concessional basis. The mechanism shall operate under guidance of the Conference of the Parties and shall report to the Conference. The mechanism will be established at the first meeting of the Countries. Efficiency of the mechanism shall be reviewed regularly.

Interim financial arrangements

The institutional structure of the Global Environment Facility (implementing agencies - IBRD, UNEP, UNDP), shall, on an interim basis, be the principal entity entrusted with the operations of the financial mechanism. (Finance support will be provided to countries, which signed the Convention)

Interim finance arrangements - Resolution of Stockholm Conference

Global Environmental Facility:

A new dimension of GEF's operations

The Operational Program

The report of the Conference of the Parties on measures taken to ensure transparency of project approval in the Facility.

Each Party shall report to the Conference of the Parties on the measures it has taken to implement the provisions of this Convention and on the effectiveness of such measures.

Effectiveness evaluation

Commencing four years after the date of entry into force of this Convention, and periodically thereafter at intervals to be decided by the Conference of the Parties, the Conference shall evaluate the effectiveness of this Convention, in particular, collecting data on regional and global environmental transport of POPs.

Annexes to the Convention

The production and use of DDT shall be eliminated except for Parties that have notified the Secretariat of their intention to produce and/or use it. A DDT Register is hereby established and shall be available to the public. The Secretariat shall maintain the DDT Register.

UNINTENTIONAL PRODUCTION

Part I: Persistent organic pollutants subject to the requirements of Article 5

This Annex applies to the following persistent organic pollutants when formed and released unintentionally from anthropogenic sources:

Part II: Source categories

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, hexachlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls are unintentionally formed and released from thermal processes involving organic matter and chlorine as a result of incomplete combustion or chemical reactions. The following industrial source categories have the potential for comparatively high formation and release of these chemicals to the environment:

а) Waste incinerators, including co-incinerators of municipal, hazardous or medical waste or of sewage sludge;

b) Cement kilns firing hazardous waste;

с) Production of pulp using elemental chlorine or chemicals generating elemental chlorine for bleaching;

d) The following thermal processes in the metallurgical industry:

Part III: Source categories

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, hexachlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls may also be unintentionally formed and released from the following source categories, including:

а) Open burning of waste, including burning of landfill sites;

b) Thermal processes in the metallurgical industry not mentioned in Part II;

с) Residential combustion sources;

d) Fossil fuel-fired utility and industrial boilers;

е) Firing installations for wood and other biomass fuels;

f) Specific chemical production processes releasing unintentionally formed persistent organic pollutants, especially production of chlorophenols and chloranil;

h) Motor vehicles, particularly those burning leaded gasoline;

i) Destruction of animal carcasses;

j) Textile and leather dyeing (with chloranil) and finishing (with alkaline extraction);

k) Shredder plants for the treatment of end of life vehicles;

l) Smouldering of copper cables;

m) Waste oil refineries.

А. General prevention measures relating to both best available techniques and best environmental practices

Priority should be given to the consideration of approaches to prevent the formation and release of the chemicals listed in Part I. Useful measures could include:

а) The use of low-waste technology;

b) The use of less hazardous substances;

с) The promotion of the recovery and recycling of waste and of substances generated and used in a process;

d) Replacement of feed materials which are persistent organic pollutants or where there is a direct link between the materials and releases of persistent organic pollutants from the source;

е) Good housekeeping and preventive maintenance programs;

f) Improvements in waste management with the aim of the cessation of open and other uncontrolled burning of wastes, including the burning of landfill sites. When considering proposals to construct new waste disposal facilities, consideration should be given to alternatives such as activities to minimise the generation of municipal and medical waste, including resource recovery, reuse, recycling, waste separation and promoting products that generate less waste. Under this approach, public health concerns should be carefully considered;

g) Minimisation of these chemicals as contaminants in products;

h) Avoiding elemental chlorine or chemicals generating elemental chlorine for bleaching.

В. Best available techniques

The concept of best available techniques is not aimed at the prescription of any specific technique or technology, but at taking into account the technical characteristics of the installation concerned, its geographical location and the local environmental conditions. Appropriate control techniques to reduce releases of the chemicals listed in Part I are in general the same. In determining best available techniques, special consideration should be given, generally or in specific cases, to the following factors, bearing in mind the likely costs and benefits of a measure and consideration of precaution and prevention:

а) General considerations:

i) The nature, effects and mass of the releases concerned: techniques may vary depending on source size;

ii) The commissioning dates for new or existing installations;

iii) The time needed to introduce the best available technique;

iv) The consumption and nature of raw materials used in the process and its energy efficiency;

v) The need to prevent or reduce to a minimum the overall impact of the releases to the environment and the risks to it;

vi) The need to prevent accidents and to minimise their consequences for the environment;

vii) The need to ensure occupational health and safety at workplaces;

viii) Comparable processes, facilities or methods of operation which have been tried with success on an industrial scale;

ix) Technological advances and changes in scientific knowledge and understanding;

b) General release reduction measures: When considering proposals to construct new facilities or significantly modify existing facilities using processes that release chemicals listed in this Annex, priority consideration should be given to alternative processes, techniques or practices that have similar usefulness but which avoid the formation and release of such chemicals. In cases where such facilities will be constructed or significantly modified, in addition to the prevention measures outlined in section A of Part V the following reduction measures could also be considered in determining best available techniques:

i) Use of improved methods for flue-gas cleaning such as thermal or catalytic oxidation, dust precipitation, or adsorption;

ii) Treatment of residuals, wastewater, wastes and sewage sludge by, for example, thermal treatment or rendering them inert or chemical processes that detoxify them;

iii) Process changes that lead to the reduction or elimination of releases, such as moving to closed systems;

iv) Modification of process designs to improve combustion and prevent formation of the chemicals listed in this Annex, through the control of parameters such as incineration temperature or residence time.

С. Best environmental practices

The Conference of the Parties may develop guidance with regard to best environmental practices.

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS AND SCREENING CRITERIA

1. A Party submitting a proposal to list a chemical in Annexes A, B and/or C shall identify the chemical in the manner described in subparagraph (a) and provide the information on the chemical, and its transformation products where relevant, relating to the screening criteria set out in subparagraphs (b) to (e):

а) Chemical identity:

i) Names, including trade name or names, commercial name or names and synonyms, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry number, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC); and

ii) Structure, including specification of isomers, where applicable, and the structure of the chemical class;

i) Evidence that the half-life of the chemical in water is greater than two months, or that its half-life in soil is greater than six months, or that its half-life in sediment is greater than six months; or

ii) Evidence that the chemical is otherwise sufficiently persistent to justify its consideration within the scope of this Convention;

с) Bio-accumulation:

i) Evidence that the bio-concentration factor or bio-accumulation factor in aquatic species for the chemical is greater than 5,000 or, in the absence of such data, that the log Kow is greater than 5;

ii) Evidence that a chemical presents other reasons for concern, such as high bio-accumulation in other species, high toxicity or ecotoxicity; or

iii) Monitoring data in biota indicating that the bio-accumulation potential of the chemical is sufficient to justify its consideration within the scope of this Convention;

d) Potential for long-range environmental transport:

i) Measured levels of the chemical in locations distant from the sources of its release that are of potential concern;

ii) Monitoring data showing that long-range environmental transport of the chemical, with the potential for transfer to a receiving environment, may have occurred via air, water or migratory species; or

iii) Environmental fate properties and/or model results that demonstrate that the chemical has a potential for long-range environmental transport through air, water or migratory species, with the potential for transfer to a receiving environment in locations distant from the sources of its release. For a chemical that migrates significantly through the air, its half-life in air should be greater than two days; and

е) Adverse effects:

i) Evidence of adverse effects to human health or to the environment that justifies consideration of the chemical within the scope of this Convention; or

ii) Toxicity or ecotoxicity data that indicate the potential for damage to human health or to the environment.

2. The proposing Party shall provide a statement of the reasons for concern including, where possible, a comparison of toxicity or ecotoxicity data with detected or predicted levels of a chemical resulting or anticipated from its long-range environmental transport, and a short statement indicating the need for global control.

3. The proposing Party shall, to the extent possible and taking into account its capabilities, provide additional information to support the review of the proposal referred to in paragraph 6 of Article 8. In developing such a proposal, a Party may draw on technical expertise from any source.

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE RISK PROFILE

The purpose of the review is to evaluate whether the chemical is likely, as a result of its long-range environmental transport, to lead to significant adverse human health and/or environmental effects, such that global action is warranted. For this purpose, a risk profile shall be developed that further elaborates on, and evaluates, the information referred to in Annex D and includes, as far as possible, the following types of information:

а) Sources, including as appropriate:

i) Production data, including quantity and location;

iii) Releases, such as discharges, losses and emissions;

b) Hazard assessment for the endpoint or endpoints of concern, including a consideration of toxicological interactions involving multiple chemicals;

с) Environmental fate, including data and information on the chemical and physical properties of a chemical as well as its persistence and how they are linked to its environmental transport, transfer within and between environmental compartments, degradation and transformation to other chemicals. A determination of the bio-concentration factor or bio-accumulation factor, based on measured values, shall be available, except when monitoring data are judged to meet this need;

е) Exposure in local areas and, in particular, as a result of long-range environmental transport, and including information regarding bio-availability;

f) National and international risk evaluations, assessments or profiles and labelling information and hazard classifications, as available; and

g) Status of the chemical under international conventions.

Draft Resolutions of Stockholm Conference (May 2001)

Resolution on liability and redress concerning the use and intentional introduction of persistent organic pollutants into the environment

Austria, jointly with the Secretariat, shall organise a workshop on liability and redress not later than in 2002.

Governments and relevant international organisations shall provide the Secretariat with information on national, regional and international measures and agreements on liability and redress, especially on persistent organic pollutants;

Interim arrangements

List of requests for specific exemptions in Annex A and Annex B and acceptable purposes in annex b received prior to the close of the fifth session of the committee