UK Call for Comments on POPRC Evaluation Documents 2023

Overview

The UK is a party to the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are substances that persist in the environment, accumulate in living organisms and pose a risk to our health and the environment. 

There is a process for parties to propose a substance for listing in the Convention if they have gathered evidence that suggests it may be a POP. The POPs Review Committee (POPRC), the technical scientific committee of the Stockholm Convention, then considers and further develops the evidence that the substance demonstrates POP characteristics. 

If there is evidence that it is a POP, they then consider the socio and economic impacts of a ban or restriction and make recommendations to the Stockholm Convention Conference of the Parties, which is held every 2 years. 

The POPRC meets every year, and the next meeting is early October 2023. Between meetings there is a period of information gathering and rounds of commenting on the draft documents. Previously, in October 2022, we requested information to aid the drafting of the documents evaluated by the POPRC. This call for comments invites the public to provide comments on the second drafts of these documents.  

Responses to this call for comments will be used to inform the UK’s submission to the secretariat of the Stockholm Convention.