INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE FOR AN
INTERNATIONAL LEGALLY BINDING INSTRUMENT
FOR IMPLEMENTING INTERNATIONAL ACTION ON
CERTAIN PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

Second session
Nairobi, 25-29 January 1999

DEVELOPMENT OF A MASTER LIST OF ACTIONS ON THE REDUCTION AND/OR ELIMINATION OF THE RELEASES OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

1. In paragraph 2 of its decision 19/13 C of 7 February 1997, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) decided that immediate international action should be initiated to protect human health and the environment through measures which would reduce and/or eliminate the emissions and discharges of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and, in paragraph 4 of that decision, recognized that the international action should incorporate such practical measures as the expeditious development of a global, legally binding instrument. In response to that mandate, UNEP has initiated a number of activities dealing with POPs. There are also numerous activities undertaken by Governments and organizations at the national, regional and international levels. It has become clear that there is a need to coordinate work being done to eliminate emissions and discharges of POPs in order to help ensure effective and efficient use of resources. To facilitate such coordination, UNEP will develop a master list of activities that address POPs and their releases.

A. Objective

2. UNEP will develop the master list of activities aimed at reducing and/or eliminating releases of POPs, in order to help avoid duplication of efforts and to ensure the efficient use of resources. The list should facilitate coordination and cooperation between and among activities at the national, regional and international levels in countries and organizations. This document will become an evolving list of relevant POPs actions, including those already taken, being conducted, or planned. With the active participation of all countries and organizations, the master list can become a dynamic tool for ensuring coordinated and complementary actions on POPs.

B. Plans for data collection and distribution

3. UNEP has already initiated the collection of information on POPs-related activities and action plans at the national, regional and international levels, through letters and questionnaires addressed to Governments and organizations. Regular requests for further and more up-to-date information will be sent between every session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, in order to produce an up-to-date master list prior to each session of the Committee. Based on the information collected to date, a first preliminary listing of titles of potentially relevant activities from international and regional organizations and Governments is contained in annex 1. The master list will shortly be further elaborated and developed into a comprehensive tool, using a format similar to the one included in annex 2.

4. The master list will be distributed in advance of future sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee and will also be available at the UNEP Chemicals homepage on the internet, at the following site: http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/).

5. With a view to ensuring effective coordination and cooperation between activities, it is important that all countries and organizations participate fully in the process, both with regard to contributing information and to making use of it for achieving effective and complementary actions.

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