Decision (EU) 2019/448 on the submission of a proposal for the listing of methoxychlor in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Summary:

Council Decision of 18 March 2019 authorising the European Commission to submit a proposal on behalf of the Union for the listing of methoxychlor in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention.

Further information:

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants aims to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The Convention provides a framework, based on the precautionary principle, for elimination of production, use, import and export of POPs, their safe handling and disposal and elimination or reduction of releases of certain unintentional POPs.

Any Party may submit a proposal for listing a chemical in the Annexes to the Convention, which will be reviewed by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC). Based on the recommendation of the POPRC, the Conference of the Parties will then decide whether to list a substance in Annex A (elimination), Annex B (restriction) and/or Annex C (unintentional production).

Although methoxychlor was prohibited to be used as an active substance in plant protection products and biocidal products in the Union some years ago and there are no other known uses, it cannot be excluded that methoxychlor is still produced, used or emitted in other countries. Due to the potential for long-range environmental transport of this chemical, the measures taken nationally or at the Union level are not sufficient to safeguard the high level of protection of the environment and human health and wider international action is necessary.

EUR-Lex: COM(2019)82: Proposal for a Decision on the submission of a proposal for the listing of methoxychlor in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2019:082:FIN

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