1. Opening of the meeting.

2. Organizational matters:

Item 1

Opening of the meeting

1. The twentieth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee will be held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome from 23 to 27 September 2024. The meeting will be opened by the Chair of the Committee, Peter Dawson (New Zealand), at 9.30 a.m. on Monday, 23 September 2024. In accordance with the terms of reference of the Committee, prior to the meeting and using a correspondence procedure, the Committee members will meet in closed session to review issues pertaining to conflicts of interest.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. At its nineteenth meeting, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee adopted decision POPRC-19/3 on chlorpyrifos. In paragraph 3 of the decision, the Committee decided to establish an intersessional working group to prepare a risk management evaluation that included an analysis of possible control measures for chlorpyrifos, in accordance with Annex F to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. At its nineteenth meeting, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee adopted decision POPRC-19/1 on chlorinated paraffins with carbon chain lengths in the range C14–17 and chlorination levels at or exceeding 45 per cent chlorine by weight, by which the Committee decided to recommend to the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants that it consider listing those chemicals, subject to further specifying the chemical identity, in Annex A to the Convention with specific exemptions, as specified in paragraph 3 of that decision. The text of decision POPRC-19/1 is set out in annex I to the present note.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. At its nineteenth meeting, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee adopted decision POPRC-19/2 on long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids, their salts and related compounds, by which it decided to recommend to the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants that it consider listing long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids, their salts and related compounds in Annex A to the Convention with specific exemptions, as specified in paragraph 2 of that decision. The text of decision POPRC-19/2 is set out in annex I to the present note.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. Switzerland has submitted a proposal to list polyhalogenated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in Annex C to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Convention (see annex to the present note). The proposal is being circulated as submitted and has not been formally edited. The Secretariat’s verification of whether the proposal contains the information specified in Annex D to the Convention is set out in document UNEP/POPS/POPRC.20/INF/4.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. Paragraph 2 of parts IV and V of Annex A to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants provides that at its sixth ordinary meeting and every second meeting thereafter, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention shall evaluate the progress that Parties have made towards achieving their ultimate objective of elimination of hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether and tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether contained in articles and review the continued need for specific exemptions for those chemicals. The paragraphs also provide that the specific exemptions shall in any case expire at the latest in 2030.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. At its ninth and tenth meetings, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants adopted decisions SC-9/12 and SC-10/13, by which it decided to amend Annex A to the Convention to list perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds. At the same meetings, the Conference of the Parties adopted decisions SC 9/13 and SC 10/14, in which it requested the Secretariat to compile, in consultation with the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, the information submitted by Parties and others to establish indicative lists of substances covered by the listing of PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds and by the listing of PFHxS, its salts and PFHxS-related compounds, make the information available on the Convention website, and update it periodically.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In accordance with paragraph 28 of its terms of reference, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee prepares, for each of its meetings, risk profiles and risk management evaluations as required by Article 8 of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. To perform this task, the Committee establishes an intersessional working group for each chemical and agrees on a workplan for completing the draft risk profiles and risk management evaluations.