News Release
Margot Wallström
No 162/04
November 18, 2004
CHEMICAL
POLLUTION: EU RATIFIES STOCKHOLM POPs CONVENTION
The EU has stepped up efforts
to get rid of the world’s nastiest chemicals
by ratifying the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs). This Convention is so far the most important global
effort to ban the use of toxic chemicals. EU legislation already implements all
its provisions.
But by becoming a Party to the Convention, the European Union can push for its
efficient implementation all over the world and for inclusion of additional substances
to be banned globally. POPs are toxic, persist for generations, can travel long
distances and accumulate in human and animal bodies. They have been widely used
in industry and as pesticides. Traces of these substances can be found in humans
and animals all over the planet. The EU has deposited its ratification instrument
with the United Nations in New York and will become a full Party to the Convention
90 days later.
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."
By joining the Convention, the EU can insist on its efficient implementation all
over the world and put forward additional substances for inclusion under the ban.
In August already, the Commission proposed to add 9 new substances to the Convention
(see IP/04/1039). The Council
has yet to decide on this issue.
The ratification does not change the way these substances are dealt with in the
EU. EU legislation has already been aligned with the Convention, going even further
in some aspects, through Regulation
850/2004. This Regulation entered into force on 20 May 2004 and bans the intentional
production, marketing and use of the substances listed in the Convention so far,
the "dirty dozen," in the EU.
However, so-called "unintentional releases" remain a problem even in
the EU. 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 10-year strategy adopted in 2001 as well as other EU legislation.
The Stockholm Convention entered into force on 17 May 2004 and has so far been
ratified by 83 countries from all over the world. Among the 12 POPs whose production
and use it bans are 3 types: pesticides (such as DDT), industrial chemicals (such
as PCBs) and unintentional by-products of industrial processes (such as dioxin
and furans). Most of these substances are known to cause cancer or be otherwise
toxic. Thirteen EU Member States
are already Parties to the Convention; the others are expected to ratify shortly.
For further details on POPs see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/pops/index_en.htm
For further details on
dioxin, see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/dioxin/index.htm
