Venue: FAO Headquarters, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy.

Summary of the outcomes

The eleventh meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee was held from 19 to 23 October 2015 in Rome back to back with the eleventh meeting of the Chemical Review Committee of the Rotterdam Convention.

The Committee adopted the risk management evaluation on decabromodiphenyl ether (commercial mixture, c-decaBDE) and recommended to the Conference of the Parties that it consider listing it in Annex A to the Convention with specific exemptions for some critical spare parts, to be defined, for the automotive and aerospace industries. The Committee also adopted the risk profile on short-chained chlorinated paraffins and established an intersessional working group to prepare a risk management evaluation. The Committee further agreed that pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) meets the screening criteria in Annex D and established an intersessional working group to prepare a draft risk profile. Further decisions were adopted establishing an intersessional process for the collection of new information on unintentional releases of hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) with a view to further evaluation of this chemical in relation to its listing in Annex C; on preparing revised guidance on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts, perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF) and their related chemicals; on ensuring effective participation in the work of the Committee; and approving the Committee’s workplan for the next intersessional period until POPRC12. On dicofol, the Committee was unable to reach consensus on the adoption of the draft risk profile, and agreed that members who consider that additional information may be available submit to the Committee such additional information as specified in Annex E and revise the draft risk profile for consideration at the next POPRC meeting in 2016.

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