PANUPS: POPs Treaty In Force Today

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PANUPS: POPs Treaty In Force Today

Mon, 17 May 2004 15:35:02 -0700

 

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P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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POPs Treaty In Force Today

May 17, 2004

 

May 17th 2004 is a historic day in the battle against chemical pollution. Today

the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs treaty) comes

into force, targeting an entire class of chemical pollutants for global

elimination. The phase out of an initial list of 12 dangerous pesticides and

industrial pollutants has already been agreed under the treaty* and a process is

in place for adding new chemicals to the list. First signed in Stockholm in 2001

by more than 100 countries and ratified in record time by 59 nations, the treaty

will convene the first Conference of the Parties in May of 2005.

 

" This represents a major victory for pesticide activists and our colleagues

around the world working to protect our health and the environment, " says Monica

Moore, Program Director for PANNA. " PAN has been calling for elimination of many

of these chemicals since the launch of the Dirty Dozen campaign in 1985. "

 

Of the 12 initial chemicals targeted for phase out under the treaty, nine are

pesticides. Among the top candidates for chemicals to be added to the list when

the treaty moves forward are the pesticides lindane and endosulfan, and

brominated flame retardants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs),

which have been found in growing numbers in people all over the world.

 

Although the U.S. signed the POPs treaty in 2001, it has not yet ratified the

agreement, and the implementing legislation for the treaty proposed by the Bush

Administration deeply undermines the convention. The Administration's bill

currently under consideration in the U.S. Congress does not have the support of

Pesticide Action Network or other environmental health groups that have long

worked to bring this treaty into existence. One of the key issues at stake is

the process of responding in the U.S. when new chemicals are targeted for

elimination under the treaty. Rather than streamlining this process, the Bush

Administration bill puts additional hurdles in place that would make it

extremely difficult to take action to phase out additional POPs chemicals in the

future.

 

In contrast to the Bush Administration attempts to undermine the landmark POPs

treaty, nations around the world have found cause to celebrate on May 17. PAN

groups in Europe have scheduled a forum in the offices of the European Union in

Brussels, and PAN Asia and Pacific has launched a media campaign for more Asian

ratifications. PAN groups are also participating in a Global Day of Action with

events in 30 countries, organized by the International POPs Elimination Network

(IPEN) a network of more than 350 public health, environmental, consumer, and

other non-governmental organizations in 65 countries.

 

PANNA salutes all of the environmental and indigenous peoples' organizations

that have worked to bring the Stockholm Convention into being. Our world has

just become a safer place.

 

* Chemicals targeted for phaseout under the treaty are the pesticides endrin,

mirex, toxaphene, chlordane, heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin and DDT; and

industrial chemicals hexachlorobenzene (also used as a pesticide) and PCBs; and

the industrial byproducts dioxins and furans. A special interim exemption is

granted for continued use of DDT for malaria control while safer alternatives

are developed and adopted.

 

Sources: For information on the convention including the current list of

countries that have signed and ratified, http://www.pops.int; IPEN Global Day of

Action, http://www.ipen.org.

 

Contact: PANNA

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting on

pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media. It's

produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and

non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to

pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all

contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

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Phone: (415) 981-1771

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