Persistent Organic Pollutants: Commission urges EU to ratify the international agreements.

Brussels, 16 June 2003

The European Commission has proposed that the European Union ratifies two international agreements on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These international agreements, the Stockholm Convention and the UNECE Protocol on POPs aim at phasing out the world's most toxic chemicals by controlling their production, use, import, export, emissions and disposal. At the same time, the Commission has decided to propose a Regulation to fulfil the obligations from the international agreements at home and to enable prompt ratification by the EU.

Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said: "The POPs agreements are an environmental breakthrough showing international commitment to deal with chemicals which are persistent, highly toxic and accumulate in our bodies and the environment. The Commission proposal for implementation measures goes further than the international obligations emphasising the aim to eliminate the production and use of the internationally recognised POPs. The forthcoming REACH legislation on registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals will later on take this part over and strengthen the EU control measures on all persistent, bioaccumulating and toxic chemicals. I now urge the Council and the Parliament to agree promptly on the implementation Regulation and on EU ratification. In this way the EU can lead in the global action against these harmful chemicals"

The Protocol to the regional UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) on POPs was signed by the EU and the Member States in June 1998. This Protocol lists 16 priority pollutants and subjects them to measures to control their production, use, emissions and disposal. The Protocol was signed by 36 of the 48 Parties to the LRTAP Convention. At the moment, only two additional ratifications are needed for the Protocol to enter into force.

Three years later, in May 2001, the global Stockholm Convention on POPs was opened for signature. The Convention lists currently 12 POPs, all of which are also listed in the regional UNECE Protocol. These globally recognised POPs include 8 pesticides, such as DDT, two industrial chemicals (PCB and hexachlorobenzene) and three groups of unintentionally produced by-products (i.e . dioxins and furans). Altogether 150 governments and the EU signed the Convention and so far 30 governments have already ratified it suggesting that the 50 ratifications required for the entry into force could be reached by the end of 2003. Both international instruments include provisions to widen the initial list of controlled substances to further identified POPs.

Compared to the regional POP Protocol that served as a basis for the global negotiations, the Stockholm Convention contains more stringent and wider control measures. These measures follow the principle "from cradle to grave". They include:

• prohibition or severe restriction of the production and use of intentionally produced POPs

• restriction on export and import of the intentionally produced POPs

• provisions on the safe handling of stockpiles and on the environmentally sound disposal of wastes containing POPs

• control measures to reduce emissions of unintentionally produced POPs.

• general obligations such as public information, monitoring and technical and financial assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

Proposal for a POP Regulation

The Commission proposal for a new Regulation complements the already extensive EU legislation on the listed substances. It reflects the ambition to go beyond the international obligations especially in the fields of chemicals and waste management. The implementation of the obligation to prevent the production of new chemicals exhibiting the POP characteristics will rely on the future REACH system of Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals. While also the part of the POP Regulation dealing with production and use bans would fit better under the new REACH legislation, the self-standing POPs Regulation seeks to enable quick EU ratification of the international POP agreements.

Background

Of all the pollutants released into the environment every year by human activity, POPs are among the most dangerous. They are highly toxic, causing an array of adverse effects, notably death, disease, and birth defects, among humans and animals. Specific effects can include cancer, allergies and hypersensitivity, damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, reproductive disorders, and disruption of the immune system.

These highly stable compounds can last for years or decades before breaking down. They circulate globally through a process known as the "grasshopper effect". POPs released in one part of the world can, through a repeated (and often seasonal) process of evaporation, deposit, evaporation, deposit, be transported through the atmosphere to regions far away from the original source. In addition, POPs concentrate in living organisms through another process called bioaccumulation. Though not soluble in water, POPs are readily absorbed in fatty tissue, where concentrations can become magnified by up to 70,000 times the background levels. Fish, predatory birds, mammals, and humans are high up the food chain and so absorb the greatest concentrations.

The Stockholm Convention lists nine intentionally produced chemicals (aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene and PCBs) which are subject to a ban on production and use except where there are generic or specific exemptions. In addition, the production and use of DDT, a pesticide still used in many developing countries for malaria and other disease vector control, is severely restricted.

The Convention sets also out control measures on import, export, stockpiles and disposal of POP waste. Releases of unintentionally produced by-products listed in the Convention (dioxins, furans, PCBs and HCB ) are subject to continuous minimisation with, as objective, the ultimate elimination where feasible. Governments are to promote the best available technologies and practices for replacing existing POPs while preventing the development of new POPs.

The UNECE Protocol focuses on the same 12 POPs and in addition four other substances. The ultimate objective is to eliminate any discharges, emissions and losses of POPs. The Protocol bans the production and use of some products outright (aldrin, chlordane, chlordecone, dieldrin, endrin, hexabromobiphenyl, mirex and toxaphene). Others are scheduled for elimination at a later stage (DDT, heptachlor, hexaclorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)). Finally, the Protocol severely restricts the use of DDT, HCH (including lindane) and PCBs. The Protocol includes provisions for dealing with the wastes of products that will be banned. It also obliges Parties to reduce their emissions of dioxins, furans, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and HCB below their levels in 1990 (or an alternative year between 1985 and 1995). For the incineration of municipal, hazardous and medical waste, it lays down specific limit values.