Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Transcription

1 UNITED NATIONS SC UNEP/POPS/COP.8/8 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Distr.: General 30 November 2016 Original: English Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Eighth meeting Geneva, 24 April 5 May 2017 Item 5 (a) (v) of the provisional agenda* Matters related to the implementation of the Convention: measures to reduce or eliminate releases from intentional production and use: perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride Note by the Secretariat I. Introduction 1. In paragraph 2 of its decision SC-7/1, on exemptions, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants noted, pursuant to paragraph 9 of Article 4, that as there were no longer any Parties registered for the specific exemptions for the production and use of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF) for carpets, leather and apparel, textiles and upholstery, paper and packaging, coatings and coating additives and rubber and plastics, no new registrations could be made with regard to them. 2. Paragraphs 5 and 6 of part III of Annex B to the Convention provide that every four years the Conference of the Parties shall evaluate the continued need for PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for the various acceptable purposes and specific exemptions. 3. The Conference of the Parties undertook the first such evaluation at its seventh meeting in accordance with the process for conducting the evaluation Having welcomed the relevant reports (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.10/INF/7/Rev.1; UNEP/POPS/COP.7/INF/11) and taken note of the relevant information (UNEP/POPS/COP.7/INF/12; UNEP/POPS/COP.7/8, annex IV), in paragraph 3 of its decision SC-7/5 the Conference of the Parties concluded that Parties might need to continue to produce and/or use PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for acceptable purposes as provided in Annex B and consequently need to notify the Secretariat of their intention to produce and/or use those chemicals for those purposes. 5. In paragraph 10 (d) of the same decision, the Conference of the Parties requested the Secretariat to prepare a document for consideration at its eighth meeting providing possible actions K * UNEP/POPS/COP.8/1. 1 Decision SC-6/4, annex. In paragraph 7 of its decision SC-7/5, the Conference of the Parties amended the schedule for the evaluation set out in paragraph 9 of the annex to decision SC-6/4, by adopting the schedule for the evaluation of the continued need for PFOS, its salts and PFOSF set out in the annex to decision SC-7/5, and decided that it would undertake the evaluation of PFOS, its salts and PFOSF at its ninth meeting.

2 II. should it conclude that there was no continued need for the various acceptable purposes for PFOS, its salts and PFOSF. 6. Lastly, in paragraph 11 of the decision the Conference of the Parties invited Parties to transmit to the Secretariat, no later than eight months before the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, information related to the interpretation and application of Article 4 of the Convention for consideration and further discussion by the Conference of the Parties at that meeting. Implementation A. Consolidated guidance on alternatives to PFOS and its related chemicals 7. As referred to in document UNEP/POPS/COP.8/12, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, by its decision POPRC-12/6, endorsed the consolidated guidance on alternatives to PFOS and its related chemicals (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.12/INF/15/Rev.1) and decided to make use of information in the guidance when carrying out the assessment of alternatives to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF pursuant to the process set out in decision SC-6/4. 8. Having noted that sulfluramid, produced from PFOSF, was used as the active ingredient of insect baits for the control of leaf-cutting ants from Atta spp. and Acromyrmex spp. and that it might degrade to PFOS in the environment, in paragraph 5 of decision POPRC-12/6 the Committee made recommendations in that regard. B. Evaluation of PFOS, its salts and PFOSF pursuant to paragraphs 5 and 6 of part III of Annex B to the Convention 9. In accordance with the process set out in decision SC-6/4 and the schedule as revised by paragraph 7 of decision SC-7/5 the Committee at its fourteenth meeting, to be held in October 2018, will, based on terms of reference to be developed at its thirteenth meeting, in October 2017, complete its next assessment of alternatives to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its ninth meeting. Between November 2018 and February 2019 the Secretariat will collect from Parties and observers the information on PFOS, its salts and PFOSF specified in paragraphs 2 4 of the annex to decision SC-6/4 and make it available to the Conference of the Parties. The Secretariat will also prepare a report on the evaluation of PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its ninth meeting. At that meeting, the Conference of the Parties will again evaluate the continued need for PFOS, its salts and PFOSF in accordance with the schedule set out in the annex to decision SC-7/5. C. Possible action by the Conference of the Parties should the Conference conclude that there is no continued need for the various acceptable purposes for PFOS, its salts and PFOSF 10. Within the scope of its mandate under the Convention, the Conference of the Parties has the authority to determine what action to take should it conclude, as the result of its evaluation of PFOS, its salts and PFOS F pursuant to part III of Annex B, that there is no continued need for one, several or all of the various acceptable purposes for these chemicals. 11. Consequently, the Conference of the Parties may determine that action is needed to amend one or more annexes to the Convention. 2 If so, the Conference of the Parties may adopt a decision or decisions to amend the annexes to: (a) Delete one or more of the various acceptable purposes from Annex B and, if desired, to provide for specific exemptions instead of acceptable purposes; (b) Delete all of the acceptable purposes from Annex B and to list the chemicals in Annex A instead, with or without specific exemptions. 12. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 21, amendments to the Convention are to be adopted at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties. The text of any proposed amendment is to be communicated to the Parties by the Secretariat at least six months before the meeting at which it is proposed for adoption. 2 2 The Conference of the Parties has taken a different approach with regard to the expiry of specific exemptions. Based on paragraph 9 of Article 4, the Conference of the Parties in decision SC-7/1 noted that as there were no longer any Parties registered for certain exemptions no new registrations could be made with regard to those exemptions. To reflect that decision, the Secretariat included a footnote in the publication setting out the consolidated text of the Convention.

3 13. In accordance with the revised schedule set out in the annex to decision SC-7/5, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee is to complete its next report on the assessment of alternatives to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF and provide comments on the next draft report on the evaluation prepared by the Secretariat in October The report on that evaluation is subsequently to be finalized by the Secretariat in February of 2019 for consideration by the Conference of the Parties in May of the same year The Committee, during its meeting in 2018, taking into account its report on the assessment of alternatives to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF and the draft report on the evaluation prepared by the Secretariat, would prepare recommendations on the continued need for those chemicals for the various acceptable purposes for consideration by the Conference of the Parties. It is understood that those recommendations should include any action that might be needed to amend the annexes to the Convention should the Conference of the Parties conclude that there is no continued need for one, several or all of the acceptable purposes. 15. The Conference of the Parties may wish to take similar action in the future should it conclude that there is no continued need for acceptable purposes for other chemicals listed in Annex B. D. Interpretation and application of Article 4 of the Convention 16. Pursuant to paragraph 11 of decision SC-7/5, information related to the interpretation and application of Article 4 was received from Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the European Union and its member States, Guatemala, India and Norway. A compilation of this information (UNEP/POPS/COP.8/INF/13) is available on the Stockholm Convention website, 4 with the main points summarized below: (a) Paragraph 3: Any State may, on becoming a Party, by means of a notification in writing to the Secretariat, register for one or more types of specific exemptions listed in Annex A or Annex B. : Several Parties requested the Secretariat to actively remind Parties of what specific exemptions remained available and to register exemptions; (b) Paragraph 4: five years after the date of entry into force of this Convention with respect to a particular chemical. : (i) (ii) Some Parties expressed the view that this provision refers to the specific date of entry into force of the Convention for a specific Party; Other Parties understand that the five years run from the initial date of entry into force of an amendment to the Annex. Some highlighted the need for a consistent, clear approach for all Parties in line with the objectives of the Convention; (c) Paragraph 9 When there are no longer any Parties registered for a particular type of specific exemption, no new registrations may be made with respect to it. : (i) (ii) Divergent views were expressed with some Parties considering paragraph 9 to be a constraint on paragraph 4 of Article 4; A question was raised as to whether the decision to extend the expiry date of a specific exemption following a request from one Party would enable other Parties to register specific exemptions. 3 The revised schedule adopted by the Conference of the Parties in the annex to decision SC-7/5 is a generic schedule designed to apply to periodic evaluations for as long as they may be carried out by the Conference of the Parties in accordance with part III of Annex B to the Convention. It therefore refers not to specific years but rather to year 1, year 2, year 3 and year 4 of the evaluation schedule. The year in which the Conference of the Parties is to carry out an evaluation is year 4. The year before that year is year 3, the year three years before the year of the evaluation is year 2 and the year before that is year 1. In decision SC-7/5 the Conference of the Parties decided to undertake its next evaluation of PFOS and its related chemicals at its ninth meeting. The ninth meeting will take place in 2019, which means that, according to the revised schedule, 2019 is year 4, 2018 is year 3, 2017 is year 2 and 2016 is year 1 for purposes of that evaluation. Should the Conference of the Parties in the future undertake further evaluations of PFOS and its related chemicals, the revised schedule will be applied in the same manner, with the year in which the Conference of the Parties is to undertake the evaluation being year 4 and the three preceding years being years 3, 2 and 1, respectively. 4 aspx. 3

4 E. Promoting information exchange on PFOS, its salts and PFOSF and their alternatives 17. In line with paragraph 10 (d) of decision SC-7/5, the Secretariat is working closely with the Global Perfluorinated Chemicals Group, which operates under the mandate of the International Conference on Chemicals Management, with the support of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Environment Programme. The Secretariat has made available the consolidated guidance on alternatives to PFOS and its related chemicals (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.12/INF/15/Rev.1) developed by the Committee, along with other information, studies and guidance, on the dedicated website of the Stockholm Convention 5 and on the OECD web portal on perfluorinated chemicals. 6 F. Effectiveness evaluation pertaining to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF 18. The main findings, conclusions and recommendations pertaining to PFOS, its salts and PFOSF may be found in paragraphs of the executive summary of the report on the effectiveness evaluation of the Convention (UNEP/POPS/COP.8/22/Add.1). III. Proposed action 19. The Conference of the Parties may wish to adopt a decision along the following lines: The Conference of the Parties, Noting the needs recognized in decision SC-8 [ ] on effectiveness evaluation as they relate to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride, Recalling paragraph 7 of decision SC-7/5, by which it decided to undertake the further evaluation of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride pursuant to paragraphs 5 and 6 of part III of Annex B to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants at its ninth meeting, 1. Welcomes the consolidated guidance on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its related chemicals 7 developed by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee; 2. Takes notes of the options for possible action by the Conference of the Parties should it conclude that there is no continued need for the various acceptable purposes for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride listed in Annex B to the Convention; 8 3. Also takes note of the information related to the interpretation and application of Article 4 of the Convention transmitted by Parties; 9 4. Invites Parties and others to submit to the Secretariat, by 15 February 2018, the following information for use by the Secretariat in preparing its next report on the evaluation of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride in accordance with paragraph 6 of the annex to decision SC-6/4 and by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee in its future updating of the guidance on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and its related chemicals: (a) Information on the production and use of sulfluramid; (b) Information on local monitoring of releases of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid from the use of sulfluramid; (c) Information on research on and the development of safe alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride as stipulated in paragraph 4 (c) of part III of Annex B to the Convention; 5. Requests the Secretariat: UNEP/POPS/POPRC.12/INF/15/Rev.1. 8 UNEP/POPS/COP.8/8, paras UNEP/POPS/COP.8/INF/13. 4

5 (a) To continue to support the process set out in the annex to decision SC-6/4, in accordance with the revised schedule set out in the annex to decision SC-7/5, and to support Parties, subject to the availability of resources, in collecting the information required for the process; (b) To further promote the exchange of information, including information provided by Parties and others, on alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride and their related chemicals; (c) To provide support to Parties, in particular developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition, subject to the availability of resources, to build their capacity to identify and collect information on perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride, to strengthen their legislation and regulations on the management of those chemicals throughout their life cycles and to introduce safer, effective and affordable alternatives to those chemicals. 5