Overview
Parties to the Stockholm Convention are required to prepare a plan explaining how they are going to implement the obligations under the Convention and make efforts to put such a plan into operation (Article 7). This so-called National Implementation Plan (NIP) is not a standalone plan for the management of POPs, but should be closely tied to the national sustainable development strategy of the Party preparing and implementing such a plan.
According to Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention, each Party shall:
- Develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its obligations under the Convention;
- Transmit its implementation plan to the Conference of the Parties within two years of the date on which the Convention enters into force for it; and
- Review and update, as appropriate, its implementation plan on a periodic basis and in a manner to be specific by a decision of the Conference of the Parties;
A series of COP decisions have given directions to the Secretariat on how to assist Parties in the development of their NIP, essentially through the development of guidance documents.
All transmitted NIPs can be accessed from here.
Parties have expressed the need for assistance in particular in obtaining information on the presence of new POPs that are contained in articles or widely used for industrial purposes. Thanks to generous financial support of donor countries and organizations, a number of capacity building and training activities thorough face-to-face workshops, online webinars, and projects have been carried out.