Brussels, 18/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Union has just submitted its ratification instrument and will become a full member of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in three months. The POP are industrial chemical products (such as PCBs), pesticides (such as DDT, chlordane or toxaphene) and contaminants and by-products such as dioxin and furans, which can accumulate in living organisms and the environment and produce long term toxic effects, particularly cancers. The Stockholm Convention provisions have already been transposed into Community legislation, notably through Regulation 850/2004 which entered into force on 20 May 2004 and bans the deliberate production, sale, use or storage of the substances listed by the Convention, such as the twelve priority POPs.
In a press statement, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström commented: "I welcome the ratification of the Convention as an important step to rid the world of the worst man-made substances. As a Party to the Convention, we can push for higher global chemicals safety - not only for our own sake, but also for the sake of people living in countries where some of these nasty substances are still being used. It also gives us the possibility to propose additional POPs to be banned under the Convention. The Commission has already prepared a list of such substances that should be the next generation of phase-outs. I am urgently waiting for the go-ahead from Council to submit this list to the Convention."
Last August, the Commission proposed that the EU added nine new substances to the list, which would soon become subject to a gradual elimination. The Council still has to reach a decision on this matter.
However, this legislation does not resolve the problem in the EU of "unintentional releases". They include dioxin which can be produced e.g. through incomplete combustion, and PCBs - industrial chemicals - which can be released if PCB-containing equipment is not handled and disposed properly. These pollutants are therefore subject to a specific ten-year strategy adopted in 2001 as well as other EU legislation.
The Stockholm Convention entered into force on 17 May 2004 and was concluded in May 2001 as part of the United Nations Programme for the Environment (UNEP).