Second session
Vienna, 14-18 June 1999

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE-BASED CRITERIA AND A PROCEDURE FOR IDENTIFYING ADDITIONAL PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS AS CANDIDATES FOR FUTURE INTERNATIONAL ACTION

(a) Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer;

(b) Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer;

(c) Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal;

(d) Convention on Biological Diversity;

(e) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

(f) United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa;

(g) Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade;

(h) Protocol to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

DRAFT PROPOSAL ON PROCEDURES FOR IDENTIFYING ADDITIONAL PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS AS CANDIDATES FOR FUTURE INTERNATIONAL ACTION

1. Any Party / may submit a proposal to the Secretariat for listing a chemical in Annexes A, B or C of the present Convention. The proposal shall contain the information required by Annex D.

2. The Secretariat shall, as soon as possible and in any event no later than six months after receipt of a proposal under paragraph 1 of the present Article, verify whether the proposal contains the information required by Annex D. If the proposal does not contain the information required by Annex D, the Secretariat shall inform the proposing Party accordingly.

3. When the information requirements in Annex D have been verified with regard to a particular proposed chemical, the Secretariat shall forward the proposal to the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee.

4. The Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee shall examine the information provided in the proposal, applying the criteria described in Annex D in a flexible, transparent and integrative manner. If the criteria are fulfilled the Committee shall proceed to a review of the proposal. If the criteria are not fulfilled, the Secretariat shall inform the proposing Party accordingly.

5. Prior to the review of the proposal, the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee may request, through the Secretariat, input from all Parties regarding information according to Annexes E and F.

6. The Secretariat shall collect the requested information set out in paragraph 5. When the requirements of paragraph 5 have been fulfilled with regard to a proposal, the Secretariat shall forward the proposal and the information to the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee.

7. The Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee shall perform a review of the proposal and prepare a risk profile and a risk management evaluation, including an analysis or recommendation of possible control measures for the proposed persistent organic pollutant, taking into account socio-economic considerations in accordance with Annex F. Based on the risk profile and the risk management evaluation, the Committee shall decide whether the substance shall be recommended for listing in Annex A, B or C.

8. For each chemical that the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee has decided to recommend for listing in Annex A, B or C, it shall prepare a report containing the risk profile and the risk-management evaluation, including the recommended control measures to accompany the chemical in its listing in Annex A, B or C. The report shall be submitted to the Conference of the Parties.

9. The Conference of the Parties shall decide whether the chemical should be listed in Annex A, B or C and approve appropriate control measures to accompany the listing of the chemical in one of those annexes.

10. When a decision to list a chemical in Annex A, B or C has been taken and the appropriate control measures have been approved by the Conference of the Parties, the Secretariat shall forthwith communicate this information to all Parties.

The following elements could be included in the Article on the Conference of the Parties:

(...)

The Conference of the Parties shall, at its first meeting, establish a subsidiary body, to be called the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee, for the purposes of performing the functions assigned to that Committee by this Convention. In this regard:

(a) The members of the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee shall be appointed by the Conference of the Parties. Membership of the Committee shall consist of a limited number of government-designated experts in chemical assessment or management. The members of the Committee shall be appointed on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, ensuring a balance between developed and developing Parties;

(b) The Conference of the Parties shall decide on the terms of reference, organization and operation of the Committee;

(c) The Committee shall make every effort to make its recommendations by consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted, and no consensus reached, such recommendation shall as a last resort be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote of the members present and voting.

(...)

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR THE PROPOSAL AND SCREENING

OF PROPOSED PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

1. The Party or Parties submitting a proposal for listing a persistent organic pollutant in Annex A, B or C shall provide sufficient information to enable a determination whether the criteria below are fulfilled and whether the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee shall proceed to a review of the proposal. This information, which need not be exhaustive, should include:

(a) Substance identity, including name (trade name(s), commercial name(s) and synonyms, Chemical Abstracts Registry Service (CAS) number, International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) name, as appropriate) and structure, including specification of isomers, where applicable (or the structure of the chemical class);

(b) Persistence:

(c) Bio-accumulation:

(d) Potential for long-range transport:

(e) Reasons for concern: Evidence that [chronic] toxicity or eco-toxicity data, compared where possible with available detected or predicted levels of a substance, indicate a potential for damage to human health or the environment caused by the substance resulting or anticipated from long-range transport. The assessment of damage should include a consideration of toxicological interactions among substances.

INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE REVIEW OF PARTY PROPOSALS BY THE PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANT REVIEW COMMITTEE

1. The purpose of the review is to evaluate whether the substance is likely to lead to significant adverse human health and/or environmental effects as a result of its long-range environmental transport, such that global action is warranted. For this purpose, the Persistent Organic Pollutant Review Committee will develop a risk profile / which further elaborates on, and evaluates, the information referred to in Annex D and also includes, inter alia, the following types of information:

(a) Sources, including, as appropriate, production data, including quantity and location; release information and uses; discharges and emissions;

(b) Hazard assessment for endpoint(s) of concern;

(c) Environmental fate: information on how the chemical and physical properties of the substance are linked to its transport and transfer within and between environmental compartments and its transformation to other substances;

(d) Monitoring data;

(e) Information regarding exposure, both in local areas and particularly as a result of long-range transport, and including information regarding bio-availability;

(f) Any national or regional control actions taken including information on alternatives and other relevant risk management information;

(g) National, regional and international risk evaluations, assessments or profiles, as available;

(h) Prior informed consent (PIC) status.

INFORMATION ON SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS

An evaluation should be undertaken regarding control measures, encompassing the full range of options, including management and elimination, for substances under consideration for inclusion in the Convention. For this purpose, relevant information should be provided relating to socio-economic considerations associated with control measures to enable a decision to be taken by the Conference of the Parties. Such information should reflect due regard for differing capabilities and conditions among Parties and should include consideration of the following indicative list of items:

(a) Efficacy and efficiency of control measures in meeting risk reduction goals:

(i) Technical feasibility;

(ii) Cost;

(b) Alternatives (products and processes):

(i) Cost;

(ii) Efficacy;

(iii) Risk;

(iv) Availability;

(c) Positive or negative impacts, or both, on society of implementing control measures:

(i) Health (inter alia, public, environmental and occupational health);

(ii) Agriculture (inter alia, aquaculture and forestry);

(iii) Biota (biodiversity);

(iv) Economic aspects;

(v) Movement towards sustainable development;

(d) Waste and disposal implications (in particular, obsolete stocks of pesticides).

DEFINITIONS

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