Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, at the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants with regard to the proposal for an amendment of Annexes A and B

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was adopted in May 2001 in the framework of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The European Union and its Member States are parties to the Convention and the provisions of the Convention have been implemented in EU law by Regulation (EC) 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on persistent organic pollutants and amending Directive 79/117/EEC (the POPs Regulation).

The overall objective of the Stockholm Convention is to protect human health and the environment from POPs. Specific reference is made to the precautionary approach as set out in Principle 15 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The principle is made operational in Article 8 of the Convention, which lays down the rules for including additional chemicals in the Annexes to the Convention.

At the sixth Conference of the Parties in May 2013, a decision should be taken to add to Annex A of the Stockholm Convention, which lists substances to be eliminated, a new substance, Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), nominated in 2008 by Norway. At the same meeting, a decision should be taken to delete a number of specific exemptions and acceptable purposes for the production, placing on the market and use of Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and its derivatives.

See also:
- Proposal for a Council Decision on the submission, on behalf of the European Union, of a proposal for the listing of additional chemicals in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)134: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:134:FIN

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