EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 22.7.2021 SWD(2021) 201 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT European Union Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the review and update of the third European Union Implementation Plan in accordance with Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants {COM(2021) 408 final}



Preface This document presents the fourth revised and updated European Union (Union) implementation plan required by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (“POPs”), of which the European Union is a Party. This document also details the work undertaken by the Union towards the Protocol to the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) on POPs and Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council (“POPs Regulation”) , which replaces Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council . The implementation plan sets out the Union's regulatory framework for POPs and persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances, and what have been identified as the key challenges facing the Union within Part I (Party Baseline). Part II subsequently sets out the Union’s response to these key challenges and what actions need to be undertaken to help achieve the overall aims of protecting human health and the environment from exposure to POPs. The first plan, titled the ‘Community Implementation Plan’, was developed in 2007 (SEC(2007)341). The implementation plan was updated with a ‘Union Implementation Plan’ published in 2014 (SWD(2014)172 final) , and further updated with a third implementation plan in late 2018 (SWD(2018)495). The further review and update of the third implementation plan is needed to reflect developments both within the policy environment (i.e. further addition of new POPs to the Convention and the Union legislation) and scientific environment (i.e. where new research furthers the understanding of POPs). The updated implementation plan will be submitted to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention and published on the website of the European Commission. This document can also be read alongside the triennial synthesis reports on the implementation of the POPs Regulation that were developed on the basis of information submitted by the Member States of the European Union pursuant to Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 regarding progress towards the objectives of the Regulation, Convention and Protocol.



TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.Introduction 1.1.Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) 1.2.International agreements addressing POPs 1.2.1.UNECE Protocol on POPs 1.2.2.Stockholm Convention 1.2.3.Coordination and cooperation among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions 1.3.Purpose of the Union Implementation Plan on POPs 2.PART I – Party Baseline 2.1.Key Union Legislation and Policies related to the Union’s Obligations under the Stockholm Convention and UNECE Protocol on POPs 2.2.Legislative instruments 2.2.1.Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 (First POPs Regulation)

2.2.2.Recast of the POPs Regulation ((EU) 2019/1021) 2.2.2.1.Introduction 2.2.2.2.Institutional changes for the role of ECHA and the Commission 2.2.2.3.Changes related to Member States reporting 2.2.2.4.Changes related to waste and waste management 2.2.2.5.Changes made to terminology to build greater alignment to REACH 2.2.2.6.POP specific changes (notably for PCBs and PBDEs) 2.2.3.European Union chemicals legislation 2.2.3.1.REACH 2.2.3.2.CLP 2.2.3.3.Regulation on Plant Protection Products 2.2.3.4.Biocidal Products Regulation 2.2.3.5.Regulation on the export and import of hazardous chemicals 2.2.3.6.PCB Directive (Directive 96/59/EC) 2.2.4.Other environmental legislation with POP relevance 2.2.5.Legislation on food and feed and on the protection of public health 2.2.6.Information exchange between the Commission and the Member States on POPs in food and consumer products 2.2.7.Food monitoring within the European Union 2.2.8.Emission monitoring legislation 2.2.9.Public access to environmental information

2.3.Strategies, policies, and programmes 2.3.1.Sustainable development 2.3.2.Substitution of substances for intentional use 2.3.3.Environment Action Programme 2.3.4.The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection 2.3.5.Strategies for control of pesticides and chemicals 2.3.6.OpenFoodTox database for pesticide residues in food 2.3.7.Environment and Health Action Plan 2.3.8.Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) 2.3.9.Monitoring efforts of the Union 2.4.Financial instruments 2.4.1.Funding instruments for the Union 2.4.2.Funding for neighbouring and partner countries 2.4.3.Multilateral programmes funded by the Union 2.5.Research and Development and the Framework Programmes 2.5.1.European Research Institutions including the JRC 2.5.2.Supporting co-operation, co-ordination and networking 2.5.3.Future research and innovation 2.6.Information Exchange, Public information, awareness and education 2.6.1.Overview

2.6.2.Stockholm Convention Regional Centres 3.Overall Assessment of the POPs issue in the Union 3.1.POPs regulated before 2009 (“old POPs”) 3.1.1.Manufacture 3.1.2.Use and placing on the market 3.1.3.Import, export and intra-Union shipments 3.1.4.Stockpiles and waste 3.2.POPs regulated from 2009 (“new POPs”) 3.2.1.Endosulfan 3.2.2.POP Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (POP PBDEs) 3.2.3.Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether 3.2.4.Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether 3.2.5.Decabromodiphenyl ether 3.2.6.Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds 3.2.7.Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride 3.2.8.Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) 3.2.9.SCCPs – short chain chlorinated paraffins 3.2.10.HCBD – hexachlorobutadiene 3.2.11.PCN – polychlorinated naphthalenes 3.2.12.Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD)

3.2.13.Pentachlorophenol (PCP) 3.2.14.Dicofol 3.3.Unintentionally produced POPs 3.3.1.Estimation and monitoring of emissions 3.3.2.Addressing industrial sources 3.3.3.Addressing domestic sources 3.4.Information on the state of knowledge on stockpiles and contaminated sites 3.4.1.PCB contaminated sites and deposits 3.4.2.HCH contaminated sites and waste deposits 3.4.3.Other POPs Pesticides 3.4.4.Contaminated sites from unintentionally formed POPs (PCDD, PCDF, PCB, HCB, PeCB, PAHs) 3.4.5.PBDE contaminated sites 3.4.6.PFOS contaminated sites 3.4.7.Hexachlorobutadiene contaminated sites 3.4.8.Hexabromocyclododecane in waste stream 3.5.Emerging risks from POPs 4.PART II – Implementation Plan 5.Implementation of the basic obligations of the Stockholm Convention 5.1.Elimination of intentional manufacture and use of POPs (Article 3(1)) 5.1.1.POP pesticides, plus decabromodiphenyl ether, HBB, HBCDD, HCBD, PeCB, PCNs, and SCCPs.

5.1.2.PCBs 5.1.3.POP-PBDEs (tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta- and decabromodiphenyl ether) 5.1.4.C-DecaBDE uses 5.1.5.DDT 5.1.6.Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS) 5.1.7.Perfluorooctanoic acid, its salts and related-compounds (PFOA) 5.2.Elimination of import and export of POPs - Article 3(2) of the Stockholm Convention 5.3.Prevention of the manufacture and use of new chemicals exhibiting characteristics of POPs - Article 3(3) of the Stockholm Convention 5.4.Assessing and controlling chemicals in use - Article 3(4) of the Stockholm Convention 5.5.General exemptions 5.6.Reduction of total releases from unintentional production - Article 5 of the Stockholm Convention 5.6.1.Obligations and implementation 5.6.2.Analysis of implementation 5.6.3.Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) 5.7.Identification and environmentally sound management of stockpiles and wastes 5.7.1.Obligations and implementation 5.7.2.Analysis of implementation 5.7.3.Disposal and destruction of POP-PBDE containing materials 5.7.4.Disposal and destruction of PFOS, PFOA and related PFAS-compounds 5.7.5.Disposal and destruction of POPs Pesticides

5.7.6.Destruction of PCB and PCB containing materials 5.8.Identification of contaminated sites (Annex A, B and C Chemicals) and if addressed then remediation in an environmentally sound manner 6.Implementation of the obligations on supporting activities 6.1.Information exchange 6.2.Public information, awareness and education 6.3.Research, development and monitoring 7.Implementation of other commitments 7.1.Technical assistance 7.2.Financial Assistance 7.3.Reporting 7.4.Effectiveness evaluation 7.5.Addition of Future Chemicals to the Stockholm Convention 8.EU research projects since 2007 with references to POP issues 9.Obsolete actions from previous UIP List of tables Table 1Overview on POPs regulated at international level; the new POPs under the Stockholm Convention (since 2009) are highlighted in grey Table 2Union chemicals legislation relevant for POPs Table 3Further environmental legislative instruments with relevance on the use and disposal of POPs (including unintentionally produced POPs) Table 4Food & Feed related legislation with relevance to POPs

Table 5New POPs added to the Stockholm Convention since 2009 Table 6Overview on the new POPs (ESWI 2011 + additional references where indicated) Table 7Breakdown of commercial PBDE products on the Union market Table 8Results of analysis for POP-PBDE congeners from ELVs and white goods in Irish (2015) and UK (2016) studies Table 9Amended text of Part I of Annex A to the Stockholm Convention listing PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds, and specific exemptions Table 10New listing of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (CAS No. 1763-23-1), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (CAS No. 307-35-7) in part I of Annex B to the Stockholm Convention as set out in the decision SC 9/4 of the COP-9 Table 11Releases of unintentionally produced POPs according to the E-PRTR (PCDD + PCDF as TEQ) (for the EU27) Table 12BAT associated emission levels for waste incineration in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2010 Table 13Research Projects with references to POPs funded under Horizon 2020 Table 14Research Projects with references to POPs funded under FP7 Table 15Research Projects with references to POPs funded by LIFE+ List of figures Figure 1Overview of the main chemical and environmental legislation related to POPs Figure 2DecaBDE emissions to European environment under the realistic scenario ERealistic (Earnshaw et al. 2013)



List of abbreviations

AFFF – Aqueous film forming foam ABS – Acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene AMAP – Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme ASR – Automotive Shredder Residue BAT – Best Available Technologies BREF – BAT Reference Document BFR – Brominated flame retardant BRS – Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions CBC – Cross-Border cooperation CLP – Classification, Labelling and Packaging CLRTAP – Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution COPHES – Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale COP – Conference of the Parties BDE – Brominated Diphenyl Ethers BEP – Best Environmental Practices CLEA – Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment DDT – Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane EAF – Electric arc furnaces EASIS – Endocrine Active Substances Information System ECHA – European Chemicals Agency

EEA – European Environment Agency EEE – Electrical and electronic equipment EFSA – European Food Safety Authority EHBMI – European Human Biomonitoring Initiative ELV – Emission Limit Values EMEP – European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme ENI – European Neighbourhood Instrument ENP – European Neighbourhood Policy ENRTP – Thematic Programme for Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources E-PRTR – European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register ERA – European Research Area ESIS – European Substance Information Systems EU – European Union FAO – Food and Agriculture Organisation FP – Framework Programme GEF – Global Environment Facility GEOSS – Global Earth Observation System of Systems GENASIS – Global Environmental Assessment Information System GPGC – Global Public Goods and Challenges HBB – Hexabromobiphenyl

HBCDD – Hexabromocyclododecane HBM – Human Biomonitoring HCB – Hexachlorobenzene HCBD – Hexachlorobutadiene HCH – Hexachlorocyclohexane HIPS – High Impact Polystyrene IED – Industrial Emissions Directive IPCheM – Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring IPA – Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance IPPC – Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control JRC – Joint Research Centre KBBE – Knowledge Based Bio-Economy LCD – Liquid Crystal Display LRTAP – Long- Range Transboundary Air Pollution NIPs – National Implementation Plans OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PAHs – Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PBDE – Polybrominated diphenyl ether PCBs – Polychlorinated Biphenyls PBT/vPvB – Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic / Very Persistent and Very Bioaccumulative

PCDDs – Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins PCDFs – Polychlorinated dibenzofurans PCN – Polychlorinated Napthalenes PCP – Pentachlorophenol PeCB – Pentachlorobenzene PFAA – Perfluoroalkyl Acids PFAS – Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances PFOA – Perfluorooctanoic Acid PFHpA – Perfluoroheptanoic acid PFOS – Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid PFOSF – Perfluorooactane sulfonyl fluoride PM – Particulate Matter PMT/vPvM - Persistency, Mobility and Toxicity (PMT) / Very Persistent and Very Mobile (vPvM) POP – Persistent Organic Pollutant PPP – Plant Protection Products PXDD/PXDFF – Polyhalogenated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins/ Polyhalogenated dibenzofurans QSAR – Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship REACH – Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals RMOA – Regulatory Management Option Analysis RoHS – Restriction of Hazardous Substances

SAICM – Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management SCCPs – Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins SMEs – Small and Medium-sized Enterprises SVHC – Substances of Very High Concern UN – United Nations UNECE – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe UPOPs – Unintentionally Produced POPs

1.Introduction 1.1.Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are chemicals that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate and pose a risk of causing significant adverse effects to human health or the environment. These pollutants are transported across international boundaries far from their sources and even accumulate in regions where they have never been used or produced. POPs pose a threat to the environment and to human health all over the globe, with the Arctic, Baltic and the Alpine regions being examples of Union sinks of POPs. International action has been deemed necessary to reduce and eliminate manufacture, use and releases of these substances. The substances addressed in the international legal instruments on POPs are listed in Table 1 . At Union level, significant progress towards the elimination of POPs has been achieved. Manufacture and use of all POP chemicals is prohibited with some minor time limited exemptions that are phased-out over time. A main challenge for the Union is to eliminate POPs from the waste cycle and remaining stockpiles as these still present a major emission source. 1.2.International agreements addressing POPs 1.2.1.UNECE Protocol on POPs The Executive Body to the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) adopted the UNECE Protocol on POPs on 24 June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark. The UNECE Protocol on POPs focuses currently on a list of 16 substances comprising 11 pesticides, 2 industrial chemicals and three unintentional by-products. In 2009, Parties adopted decisions to list seven new substances. However, those decisions did not yet enter into force. The ultimate objective is to eliminate any discharges, emissions and losses of these POP substances. The POPs Protocol has been approved by the European Union and 23 Member States . The UNECE Protocol on POPs bans the manufacture and use of some substances outright (aldrin, chlordane, chlordecone, dieldrin, endrin, hexabromobiphenyl, hexachlorobutadiene, hexachlorocyclohexane (technical HCH), hexaBDE, heptaBDE, tetraBDE, pentaBDE, pentachlorobenzene, polychlorinated napthalene (PCN), mirex and toxaphene). Others are scheduled for elimination at a later stage (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs)). In addition, the latest version of the UNECE Protocol on POPs, adopted in December 2009, severely restricts the use of gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane). The Protocol includes provisions for dealing with the wastes of substances that are banned and it obliges Parties to reduce their emissions of dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and HCB below their levels in 1990 (or an alternative year between 1985 and 1995). For the incineration of municipal, hazardous and medical waste, it lays down specific emission limit values. On 18 December 2009, Parties to the Protocol on POPs adopted decisions 2009/1, 2009/2 and 2009/3 to amend the Protocol to include nine new substances (taking the total to 26). Furthermore, the Parties revised obligations for DDT, heptachlor, HCB and PCBs as well as certain emission limit values (ELVs) from waste incineration, sinter plants and electric arc furnaces for secondary steel manufacture. Parallel to this, with a view to facilitating the Protocol’s ratification by countries with economies in transition, the Parties introduced flexibility for these countries regarding the time frames for the application of ELVs and best available technologies (BAT). Finally, the Parties adopted decision 2009/4 to update guidance on BAT to control emissions of POPs in Annex V and turn parts of it into a guidance document (ECE/EB.AIR/2009/14 ). The amendments for Annexes V and VII entered into force on 13 December 2010, while the 2009/1 and 2009/2 amendments have not yet entered into force. The Union formally accepted the amendments on 24 June 2016, based on Council Decision (EU) 2016/769 of 21 April 2016 on the acceptance of the Amendments to the 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

1.2.2.Stockholm Convention The Stockholm Convention on POPs was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004. The overall objective of the Stockholm Convention is to protect human health and the environment from POPs. It promotes global action on POPs and requires Parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. Specific reference is made to a precautionary approach as set forth in Principle 15 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. This principle is implemented by Article 8 of the Convention, which lays down the rules for including additional chemicals under the Convention. At the time the Stockholm Convention entered into force in 2004, a total of 12 substances were listed within Annexes A, B and/or C comprising nine pesticides, one industrial chemical and two unintentionally created substances with no commercial value (dioxins and furans). Since 2004 additional substances have been added at subsequent Conferences of the Parties (COP). On 26 August 2010 (following COP-4) a further nine substances were added, including a new Annex C substance (pentachlorobenzene). At COP-5 (held in 2011) the pesticide endosulfan was added to Annex A with specific exemptions (SC5/3). At COP-6 (held in 2013) the flame retardantant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) was added to Annex A of the Convention with specific exemptions for manufacture as allowed for the parties listed in the register of specific exemptions and for use in expanded polystyrene and extruded polystyrene in buildings. At COP-7 (held in 2015) a further three substances were added to the Annexes (Hexachlorobutadiene and pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its salts and esters were added to Annex A, while polychlorinated napthalenes (PCN) were added to Annexes A and C). At COP-8 (held in 2017) the decision was made to amend Annexes A and C of the Convention by listing Decabromodiphenyl ether (commercial mixture, c-decaBDE) and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in Annex A with specific exemptions as well as further extending the listing of hexachlorobutadiene to both Annex A and C. These additions made in the period 2011 (COP-5) to 2017 (COP-8) took the total number of substances regulated under the Convention to 28. Additionally during the discussions of the fifth Conference of the Parties (COP-5) in 2011, a work plan (following decision SC-4/19) was put in place to limit and reduce the emissions to the environment of the four Stockholm Convention homologue groups of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (POP-PBDEs) from wastes and also to help close the knowledge gaps for PFOS. COP-5 was also used to promote closer ties between the Stockholm Convention and the related policy instruments covered by the Rotterdam Convention and Basel Convention. At the COP-9 meeting, held in April/May 2019, further decisions were made to add dicofol (no exemptions) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA related compounds (with specific exemptions) to Annex A of the Convention (see Sections 3.2.6 and 3.2.14 for further details). In addition, under Annex B of the Stockholm Convention the manufacture and use of DDT (a pesticide still used in many developing countries) and PFOS (a surfactant) are severely restricted. The continued use of DDT has been the subject of review and assessment at COP-5, COP-6, COP-7 and COP-8. When PFOS was listed under Annex B of the Stockholm Convention in 2009, the listing included eight acceptable purposes (non-time limited exemption) and twelve specific exemptions (time limited). At COP-9, the number of exemptions for PFOS was substantuially reduced, and additional requirements for Parties to register for remaining specific exemptions were put in place (see Section 3.2.7 ). The generic exemptions allow laboratory-scale research, use as a reference standard and unintentional trace contaminants in products and articles. Articles containing POPs manufactured or already in use before the date of entry into force of the relevant obligation are also subject to an exemption provided that Parties submit information on the uses and a national plan for waste management for such artifcles to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention. Releases of unintentionally produced by-products listed in Annex C, including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), PCBs, pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), HCB, PCNs and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), are subject to continuous minimisation with the ultimate objective of total elimination, where feasible. According to Annex C, Parties shall promote and, in accordance with their action plans, require the use of best available techniques for new sources within their major source categories identified in Part II and Part III of Annex C of the Stockholm Convention. The Stockholm Convention also foresees identification and safe management of stockpiles containing or consisting of POPs. Waste containing, consisting of or contaminated with POPs shall be disposed of in such a way that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed so that it does not exhibit POPs characteristics. Where this does not represent the environmentally preferable option or where the POP content is low, waste shall be otherwise disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. Disposal operations that may lead to recovery or re-use of POPs are explicitly forbidden. With regard to shipment of wastes, relevant international rules, standards and guidelines, such as the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, are to be taken into account. In addition to control measures, the Stockholm Convention includes several general obligations. All Parties are obliged to develop and endeavour to implement National Implementation Plans (NIPs), facilitate or undertake the exchange of information and promote and facilitate awareness and public access to information on POPs. The Parties shall also encourage or undertake appropriate research, development, monitoring and co-operation pertaining to POPs, and where relevant, to their alternatives and candidate POPs. They shall also regularly report to the COP on the measures taken to implement the provisions of the Convention. The Stockholm Convention recognises the particular needs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition and therefore specific provisions on technical assistance and on financial resources and mechanisms are included in the general obligations. Table 1 Overview on POPs regulated at international level; the new POPs under the Stockholm Convention (since 2009) are highlighted in grey Substance CAS Listed in Stockholm Convention Listed in the UNECE Protocol on POPs Listed in the POPs Regulation Intentionally produced POPs Aldrin 309-00-2 Annex A Yes Yes Chlordane 57-74-9 Annex A Yes Yes Chlordecone 143-50-0 Annex A Yes Yes Dieldrin 60-57-1 Annex A Yes Yes Endosulfan





959-98-8 33213-65-9

Annex A No Yes Endrin 72-20-8 Annex A Yes Yes Heptachlor 76-44-8 Annex A Yes Yes Hexabromobiphenyl (HBB) 36355-01-8 Annex A Yes Yes Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) (including its isomers) 25637-99-4 3194-55-6 134237-50-6 134237-51-7 134237-52-8 Annex A No Yes Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether 36483-60-0; 68928-80-3;

and others Annex A Yes Yes Yes Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) 118-74-1 Annex A Yes Yes Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane* 319-84-6; 608-73-1 Annex A Yes: Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH; CAS: 608-73-1 ), including lindane (CAS: 58-89-9) Yes (all isomers including gamma HCH found in lindane) Beta hexachlorocyclohexane* 319-85-7 Annex A Lindane* 58-89-9 Annex A Mirex 2385-85-5 Annex A Yes Yes Pentachlorobenzene 608-93-5 Annex A Yes Yes Pentachlorophenol (PCP) 87-86-5 and others Annex A No Yes – added with the 2019 recast Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) 1336-36-3 and others Annex A Yes Yes Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether 40088-47-9; 32534-81-9;

and others Annex A Yes Yes Yes Toxaphene 8001-35-2 Annex A Yes Yes DDT 50-29-3 Annex B Yes Yes Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS) 1763-23-1; 2795-39-3; 29457-72-5; 29081-56-9; 70225-14-8; 56773-42-3; 251099-16-8; 1691-99-2; 24448-09-7; 307-35-7,

and others Annex B Yes Yes Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds 335-67-1 Annex A No Yes – added April 2020 SCCPs – short chain chlorinated paraffins 85535-84-8; and others Annex A Yes Yes HCBD – hexachlorobutadiene 87-68-3 Annex A Yes Yes PCN –polychlorinated naphthalenes 70776-03-3 and others Annex A Yes Yes Bis(pentabromophenyl)ether, also known as Decabromodiphenyl ether (c-decaBDE) 1163-19-5 Annex A No Yes – added with the 2019 recast Dicofol 115-32-2 Annex A No Yes – added June 2020 Unintentionally produced POPs Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) 1746-01-6 Annex C Yes Yes Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) 1746-01-6 Annex C Yes Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) 118-74-1 Annex C Yes Yes Pentachlorobenzene 608-93-5 Annex C Yes Yes – added with the 2019 recast Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) 1336-36-3 and others Annex C Yes Yes PCN – polychlorinated napthalenes 70776-03-3 and others Annex C Yes Yes – added with the 2019 recast Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 207-08-9 and others No Yes Yes HCBD – hexachlorobutadiene 87-68-3 Annex C Yes Yes – added with the 2019 recast * Lindane, Alpha- and Beta hexachlorocyclohexane, as well as Chlordecone and Hexabromobiphenyl are new POPs under the Stockholm Convention but have already been covered under the POP Protocol and the POPs Regulation. 1.2.3.Coordination and cooperation among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are multilateral environmental agreements, which share the common objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes. These agreements can assist countries to manage chemicals at different stages of their life-cycle. Recognizing the potential for synergistic work under the three conventions at the national, regional and global levels, the international community has worked over the past years on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention. These efforts culminated in the adoption of recommendations on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the three conventions by the three Conferences of the Parties held in 2008 and 2009, and the holding of simultaneous extraordinary meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in Bali, Indonesia in February 2010, and in Geneva in May 2013. Furthermore, ordinary meetings of the Conferences of the Parties were held back-to-back in 2015, 2017 and 2019. One of the first steps of the synergies process was the restructuring of the secretariats in a manner that strengthens organizational synergies while respecting the legal autonomy of each convention. Further steps taken at successive triple COP meetings resulted in aligning and integrating the work of the Stockholm, Basel and Rotterdam Conventions including cross-cutting measures for information exchange. Today, the enhanced coordination and cooperation resulting from the synergies process is a fundamental pillar of all the work that is done under the conventions in order to increase policy coherence and maximise efficiency and resources. The synergies are mainstreamed in all relevant activities, as appropriate, rather than being a separate activity. The COP-7 meeting in May 2015 introduced 17 new joint activities building on these synergies, and also broadened the remit of the global environment facility (GEF) to cover financing for projects on both chemicals and waste (BRS Secretariat, 2015). At the COP-8 meeting in 2017, reports on reviews of the synergies arrangements for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions were discussed and the BRS Secretariat was requested to continue to seek opportunities for enhanced coordination and cooperation among the conventions (BRS Secretariat, 2017).

1.3.Purpose of the Union Implementation Plan on POPs The Stockholm Convention lays down an obligation to all Parties, to develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its obligations under the Convention. For the Union, this obligation is also transferred to the Article 9 of the POPs Regulation. The Union has in 2007 therefore developed an Implementation Plan on POPs (SEC(2007)341), which also covers the substances that fall under the UNECE Protocol on POPs . The overall purpose of the implementation plan is not only to fulfill legal obligations, but also to take stock of actions taken and lay down a strategy and action plan for further Union measures related to POPs included in the Stockholm Convention and/or in the UNECE Protocol on POPs. The implementation plan therefore aims to: ·review the existing Union level measures related to POPs; ·assess their efficiency and sufficiency in meeting the obligations of the Stockholm Convention; ·identify needs for further Union level measures; ·establish a plan for implementing the further measures; ·identify and strengthen links and potential synergies between POPs management and other environmental policies and other policy fields; and ·increase awareness on POPs and their control measures. In developing this implementation plan information and data has been taken from the following key sources: ·Union policy and legislative documents used to govern and manage the policy landscape on chemicals; ·Member States’ reports submitted to the European Commission as per Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004; ·Member States National Implementation Plans; ·Union databases on chemicals including: oChemical databases held by the European Chemicals Agency as part of the REACH and CLP Regulations; oEuropean Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR); oUNECE EMEP database for POPs release estimates; oEurostat;

oPesticides database; oEuropean Substance Information Systems (ESIS) database; oThe EFSA OpenFoodTox database ·Scientific journal literature; ·Input from key experts in the field. Further detailed information can also be found within Member State national implementation plans, and triennial synthesis reports developed by the European Commission, which detail work undertaken within Union, including information on releases and monitoring of POPs. 2.PART I – Party Baseline This section presents the Union’s baseline with regard to POP chemicals regulated under the Stockholm Convention and the Protocol on POPs. As such it includes at first an overview on the key Union legislation related to the implementation of obligations in the mentioned international frameworks as well as related Union strategies and programmes, followed by a description of existing financial instruments to support the implementation as well as research activities. In order to get a full picture of the status quo of the implementation, a description will be provided on what efforts are currently being undertaken by the Union to raise awareness and enhance communication. Furthermore, an overall assessment of POPs regarding their manufacture, their use, their placing on the market as well as with regard to existing stockpiles and the contamination of the waste stream will be described. This Part I ‘Party Baseline’ presents the basic information on the Union situation and will be followed by an in-depth analysis in Part II regarding each single obligation of the Stockholm Convention. This analysis is followed by the identification of actions to improve the implementation. 2.1.Key Union Legislation and Policies related to the Union’s Obligations under the Stockholm Convention and UNECE Protocol on POPs The Union has implemented a number of legislative measures that are related to POPs addressing both the aims of the Stockholm Convention but also the UNECE Protocol on POPs. The following figure gives an overview of the main chemical and environmental legislation relating to POPs and to which stage of the lifecycle it refers to. Details on the legislation related to POPs are described in the following sub-sections. Figure 1 Overview of the main chemical and environmental legislation related to POPs 2.2.Legislative instruments 2.2.1.Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 (First POPs Regulation)

As signatory to both the Stockholm Convention and the UNECE Protocol on POPs, in order to implement the Union’s international obligation, the European Union legislators adopted the Regulation on persistent organic pollutants (hereafter called “Regulation (EC) No 850/2004”) to uphold the aims of the Convention and Protocol at Union level. This Regulation entered into force on 20 May 2004 and was directly applicable in all Member States, including those which are not yet Parties to the Stockholm Convention or the UNECE POP Protocol. Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 contains provisions regarding manufacturing, placing on the market and use of chemicals, management of stockpiles and wastes and measures to reduce releases of unintentionally produced POPs. Exports of POPs are regulated under Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals. The exemptions to the prohibitions under the POPs Regulation are limited to a minimum. Furthermore, Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 contains provisions requiring the setting up of emission inventories for unintentionally produced POPs, national and Union implementation plans and monitoring and information exchange mechanisms. To a certain extent Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 goes further than the international agreements emphasising the aim to eliminate the manufacture and use of the internationally recognised POPs, notably this includes the development of legally binding thresholds for POPs within waste, which are detailed in Annex IV of the Regulation. Where the thresholds are exceeded, only certain disposal or recovery operations can be applied to the waste containing POPs in such a way as to ensure that the POP content is irreveribly transformed or destroyed. POP substances separated from waste cannot be recycled under any circumstance and have to be destroyed. Concerning management of stockpiles, the Regulation provides that all remaining stockpiles for which no use is permitted shall be managed as waste. Stockpiles greater than 50 kg meant for permitted uses shall be notified to the competent authority and managed in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound manner. Holders of a stockpile consisting of or containing any POPs for which no use is permitted shall manage that stockpile according to the specified requirements. With regard to wastes, producers and holders of waste are obliged to undertake measures to avoid contamination of waste with POP substances. Waste with POPs content higher than the above mentioned lower POP limits (under Annex IV) must generally be disposed of or recovered in such a way that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed. By way of derogation, wastes containing POPs below the limit values indicated in Annex V may be otherwise dealt with in accordance with a method listed in Annex V, part 2, subject to the conditions outlined in Article 7.4 (b) . 2.2.2.Recast of the POPs Regulation ((EU) 2019/1021) 2.2.2.1.Introduction Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 has been amended several times to take into account changes within the Convention and Protocol annexes as well as changes in other related Union legislation such as REACH. On 22 March 2018 the Commission adopted a proposal to recast the POPs Regulation. The position of the European Parliament was adopted on 18 April 2019, and passed to the Council of the European Union in early May 2019. The recast of the POPs Regulation was adopted on 20 June 2019 and formally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 June 2019. While the overall structure of the POPs Regulation is broadly similar to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004, there are a number of important changes included, which can be broadly grouped into five categories: ·Institutional changes for the role of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the Commission; ·Changes related to Member States reporting; ·Changes related to waste and waste management; ·Changes made to terminology to build greater alignment to REACH; ·POP specific changes (notably for PCBs and PBDEs). 2.2.2.2.Institutional changes for the role of ECHA and the Commission The POPs Regulation provides a significant new role for ECHA in its implementation and development of technical and scientific dossiers. Article 8 of the POPs Regulation defines the new duties that are undertaken by ECHA (further supported by the Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement established under the REACH Regulation, hereafter referred to as “the Forum”). In particular ECHA has a key role to support the Commission by assisting in identifying new substances that meet the criteria to be considered ‘POPs’, and development of the risk profile and risk management evaluation dossiers, which are to be developed for the review process under the Stockholm Convention. These changes also allow greater transparency in the process for identification of new POPs. Under the POPs Regulation ECHA is required to publish notice on its website that a proposal for the listing of a substance (screening dossier) will be prepared by the Commission and allow comments from all interested parties within eight weeks of the publication. Furthermore, during the development of the risk profile and risk management evaluation dossiers, the POPs Regulation also allows input (and new data) from all interested parties, again with an eight-week window for commenting following publication on the ECHA website. ECHA also has further duties to provide technical input (upon request from the Commission) to ongoing processes under the Convention, collation and publication of information reported by the Member States and maintain a section on the ECHA website dedicated to POPs.

The Forum has the role to establish a network of Member State authorities responsible for the enforcement of the POPs Regulation. This network will co-ordinate enforcement efforts carried out at Member State level and will also address waste and waste-related matters that fall under the POPs Regulation. Article 16 of the POPs Regulation states that ECHA’s budget for this new role will be sourced through a combination of a subsidy from the Commission and donations from the Member States. The POPs Regulation also grants new powers to the Commission for amendment of the Annexes. Under Article 15 of the POPs Regulation, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts amending Annexes I, II and/or III. The European Parliament and the Council still have the right to object, but the use of delegated acts is intended to make the amendment of Annexes in light of changes under the Convention or the Protocol more efficient. The Commission also has a watching brief to monitor Annexes IV and V for any necessary amendments. The Commission is also (under Article 10) able to consider the need for mandatory monitoring of substances listed in Part B of Annex III. Additionally, under Article 7(5) of the POPs Regulation, the Commission may adopt implementing acts concerning waste management, in particular with regard to the format of information to be submitted by the Member States concerning exemptions from the prescribed waste disposal and recovery provisions set out in the Regulation. 2.2.2.3.Changes related to Member States reporting Reporting is a key component of the POPs Regulation and builds upon the work completed at Member State level to tackle the issues posed by POPs. Under Regulation (EC) No 850/2004, Article 12 included obligations on Member States to report annually (on management of substances list in Annex I or II) and triennially (on the broader issues, including emission inventories) to the Commission. Additionally, Article 12 then also placed obligations on the Commission to produce a report every three years on the Union’s progress towards the aims of the regulation. Taking into account the Commission Report on Actions to Streamline Environmental Reporting and its related Fitness Check, the POPs Regulation proposes a different approach to reporting. Under Article 13, Member States are obligated to develop reports on their progress to implement the regulation, including data on annual monitoring and statistics which will be published at national level. These reports are to be kept up to date, with annual updates for any new data, or if no new data is available, with an update at least once every three years as a minimum. Under Article 17 of the POPs Regulation, the Agency, in cooperation with the Member States, specifies formats and software for the publication of data by the Member States pursuant to the Regulation and makes them available free of charge on its website. Additionally, for monitoring data the POPs Regulation highlights the importance of the new Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring (IPCheM), and that all monitoring data should be provided to IPCheM, again with formats to be agreed between the Member States and ECHA. 2.2.2.4.Changes related to waste and waste management The POPs Regulation provides a stronger focus on POPs wastes and waste-management. In particular, the POPs Regulation comments that for national reports and implementation plans Member States are encouraged to include any information on the identification of contaminated sites. Additional focus is also given to management of POPs within waste streams and traceability to avoid regrettable re-entry to the market through recycling. Recital 17 of the POPs Regulation specifically states: “In order to promote the traceability of waste containing POPs and ensure control, the provisions of the record keeping system established in accordance with Article 17 of Directive 2008/98/EC should apply also to such waste containing POPs which is not defined as hazardous waste according to Commission Decision 2014/955/EU”. This means that for wastes containing POPs, even when not classified as hazardous, the record-keeping obligations that apply to producers or installations managing hazardous waste, will also apply, including documenting the quantity, nature and origin of the waste and the destination of the waste. As a minimum this requires the holders of such waste to notify the competent authority of the POP content of their wastes. The recast further comments that the Commission is assisted by the Committee established under the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) to ensure a consistent approach to how wastes are managed within the Union. 2.2.2.5.Changes made to terminology to build greater alignment to REACH A number of smaller but important changes have been included within the POPs Regulation to help build closer alignment with other related Union legislation. In particular under Article 2 this includes the revision of terminology in a number of places to align more closely with REACH. For example, the Stockholm Convention refers to ‘production’, while the REACH Regulation refers to ‘manufacture’, covering the same set of activities. 2.2.2.6.POP specific changes (notably for PCBs and PBDEs)

The majority of the changes in the POPs Regulation affect functional elements of how the legislation works and roles and obligations for different bodies. However, there are a small number of changes which specifically affect certain POPs substances, with the two key changes of importance relating to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): ·PBDEs: The POPs Regulation made provisions under Annexes IV and V for management of wastes containing PBDEs as a family defined by homologue groups (i.e. pentaBDE, hexaBDE, heptaBDE, etc.). By Commission Regulation (EU) 1342/2014 the Annex IV threshold (for low POP content) for wastes containing PBDEs as an aggregated sum was set at 1000 mg/kg (1000ppm). The POPs Regulation notes the advances made in analytical chemistry and states that within two years of entry into force (not later than 16 July 2021) the Commission should review that concentration limit and should, where appropriate and in accordance with the Treaties, adopt a legislative proposal to lower that value to 500 mg/kg. Furthermore, under Annex I of the POPs Regulation a new clause has been added regarding the presence of PBDEs (tetra, penta, hexa, hepta and deca homologues) within new articles placed on the market. This sets a maximum threshold of 500 mg/kg for unintentional trace contamination of mixtures and articles with PBDEs. ·PCBs: Annex I part A of the POPs Regulation now includes the additional text for PCBs: “Member States shall identify and remove from use equipment (e.g., transformers, capacitors or other receptacles containing liquid stocks) containing more than 0,005 % PCBs and volumes greater than 0,05 dm3, as soon as possible but no later than 31 December 2025.” This incorporates the overall aim from the Stockholm Convention to eliminate the remaining use of PCBs within di-electric equipment by 2025. The POPs Regulation also includes the addition of new terminologies, in particular the addition of ‘unintentional trace contamination’, which is defined as: “'unintentional trace contaminant' means a level of a substance that is incidentally present in a minimal amount, below which the substance cannot be meaningfully used, and above the detection limit of existing detection methods to enable control and enforcement”. 2.2.3.European Union chemicals legislation Other chemicals legislation complements the POPs Regulation in implementing the obligations of the Stockholm Convention and the POPs Protocol. As Table 2 shows, the other chemicals legislation particularly ensures that the export ban on POPs is implemented and that allowed imports and exports are in conformity with the rules of the Stockholm Convention, ensures that POPs are collected and irreversibly destroyed and prevents that the chemicals exhibiting POP characteristics are produced or marketed. Table 2 Union chemicals legislation relevant for POPs Acronym Legal reference POPs regulated / POP reference Areas of regulation REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 Testing on PBT (persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic) criteria according to Annex XIII Manufacture, placing on the market & use CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 Inventory of classification and labelling of hazardous substances. Classification, Labelling, Packaging Plant Protection Product Regulation Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 An active substance, safener or synergist shall only be approved where it is not considered to be a persistent organic pollutant (POP) resp. PBT substance.

Active substances meeting two of the PBT criteria shall be candidates for substitution Placing on the market & use Biocidal Products Regulation Regulation (EU) 528/2012 Active substances meeting the PBT criteria shall not be approved. Active substances meeting two of the PBT criteria shall be candidates for substitution Placing on the market & use PIC Regulation concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 POPs as listed in Annexes A and B of the Stockholm Convention are subject to export ban Export and import of dangerous chemicals PCB Directive Directive 96/59/EC Disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCB/PCT) Disposal 2.2.3.1.REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) inter alia includes provisions to ensure that industrial chemicals having POP characteristics are identified and prevented from being produced or imported in the Union. Furthermore under the authorisation and restriction processes, the promotion of innovation, use of safer alternatives and contribution to the goal of achieving sustainable development of chemical use are covered. REACH requires Union companies which manufacture or import chemical substances in quantities of one tonne or more per year to register these substances and ensure that they can be used safely. This information is submitted in the form of registration dossiers to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) . The submission contains a technical dossier and, for substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 10 tonnes per annum (tonnes p.a.) or above, a Chemical Safety Report (CSR). The chemical safety assessment detailed by the CSR has to cover: (`)human health hazards; (`)physicochemical hazards; (a)environmental hazards;

(b)persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) properties. For hazardous substances (such as those assessed to be a PBT or vPvB), an exposure assessment and risk characterisation must be included in the Chemical Safety Report. For some of the substances identified as PBT or vPvB, an authorisation from the Commission is required for particular uses. This is the case when a substance meeting the requirements of the ‘substance of very high concern’ (SVHC) criteria is included in Annex XIV of the Regulation and will then become banned once the set sunset date has passed unless an authorization is granted. Only specific uses for which a request for authorization has been made following specific requirements with regard to the assessment of the substance can be allowed. Prior to inclusion into Annex XIV the selected substances are part of the so-called Candidate List, which in itself already implies a number of obligations such as e.g. the obligation to deliver information on the content of a substance in an article. REACH further includes the possibility to restrict the use, placing on the market or manufacture of substances by listing them in Annex XVII of REACH. This is another legal instrument that can be used to prevent manufacture and use of substances having POP characteristics. With the above described measures REACH gives greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. This information has to be passed down the chain of manufacture. The REACH Regulation also aims to increase the knowledge of the chemicals properties and of the exposure through the required provision of specific documentation and to improve the risk management of chemicals. 2.2.3.2.CLP The CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 is the Union Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of substances and mixtures . The legislation introduces throughout the Union a system for classifying and labelling chemicals, based on the United Nations’ Globally Harmonised System (UN GHS). CLP is about the hazards of substances and mixtures and how to inform others about them. CLP does not contain a specific hazard class for PBT and vPvB substances, however Article 53(2) calls for the promotion at the UN level for the harmonisation of the criteria for classification and labelling of PBT and vPvB substances. However, the classification and labelling inventory set up by the CLP Regulation makes available relevant information that can be used to identify new potential POP candidates and also provides classification and labelling of several POPs. 2.2.3.3.Regulation on Plant Protection Products Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (PPP Regulation) prevents chemicals exhibiting POP characteristics from being used in plant protection products. This is achieved by the provisions according to which an active substance, safener or synergist shall only be approved for use in plant protection products where it is not considered to be a POP or if it is not considered to be a persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substance (PBT) or a very persistent and very bioaccumalative substance (vPvB). In addition, a substance may only be approved as a candidate for substitution if it meets two of the PBT criteria. Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin sets the highest level of a pesticide residue that is legally tolerated in or on food or feed when pesticides are applied correctly. This includes MRL values for several POPs (see Section 2.1.5). 2.2.3.4.Biocidal Products Regulation Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products aims to promote substitution of substances that exhibit PBT characteristics in biocidal products for less hazardous ones. The use of PBT substances in biocidal products is only allowed if there are no alternatives available. This is achieved by the provision that an active substance that meets two of the PBT criteria as set out in Annex XIII of the REACH Regulation shall be considered as a candidate for substitution and shall be identified as such in a regulation approving an active substance under the Biocides Regulation. A similar process also exists under the PPP Regulation. The approval of an active substance that is considered as a candidate for substitution shall be renewed for a period not exceeding seven years. As part of the evaluation of an application for an authorisation (or a renewal of an authorisation) of a biocidal product containing an active substance that is a candidate for substitution, the Competent Authority shall perform a comparative assessment to evaluate whether there are other authorised biocidal products (or non-chemical control or prevention methods) which present significantly lower risk for human or animal health or the environment. 2.2.3.5.Regulation on the export and import of hazardous chemicals The export of POP substances or articles containing POPs is regulated by Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals . This Regulation implements the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade and provides for an export ban of POP substances listed in Annexes A and B of the Stockholm Convention and in the POPs Regulation. The decisions made at the COP-4 to the Stockholm Convention held on 4–8 May 2009 listing new substances were implemented by Regulation (EU) No 214/2011. The fifth Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (COP-5) (April 2011) decided to list endosulfan in Annex A. That decision was implemented in the Union by Commission Regulation (EU) No 73/2013, which adds endosulfan to the list of chemicals that are banned for export. Under Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 substances listed in Annex I are as a minimum subject to the export notification requirements. For POP-PBDEs and PFOS listed in Annex I, this includes in addition explicit consent requirements (with the potential for exceptional waivers) from receiving non-EU countries. 2.2.3.6.PCB Directive (Directive 96/59/EC) Articles containing PCBs already in use are covered by specific provisions laid down in Council Directive 96/59/EC on the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCB/PCT) . The directive aims for the approximation of the laws of the Member States on the controlled disposal of PCBs, the decontamination or disposal of equipment containing PCBs and/or the disposal of used PCBs in order to eliminate them completely. According to the Directive, Member States had to take the necessary measures to ensure that used PCBs are disposed of and that PCBs and equipment containing PCBs are decontaminated or disposed of in an appropriate manner.

Member States were obliged to compile inventories of equipment with PCB volumes of more than 5 dm³. These inventories were to be sent to the Commission by September 1999 at the latest. The equipment and PCBs contained in the inventories had to be decontaminated or disposed of by 2010 at the latest (deadlines are different for the new Member States). The inventories must supply the following data: ·the names and addresses of the holders; ·the location and description of the equipment; ·the quantity of PCBs contained in the equipment; ·the date and type of treatment planned; ·the date of the declaration. Moreover, the Directive stipulates that any equipment which is subject to inventory must be labelled. Member States must prohibit the separation of PCBs from other substances for the purpose of reusing the PCBs and the topping-up of transformers with PCBs. Concerning the appropriate waste management, Member States had to take the necessary measures to ensure that: ·PCBs, used PCBs and equipment containing PCBs which is subject to inventory are transferred to licensed undertakings, at the same time ensuring that all necessary precautions are taken to avoid the risk of fire; ·any incineration of PCBs or used PCBs on ships is prohibited; ·all undertakings engaged in the decontamination and/or the disposal of PCBs, used PCBs and/or equipment containing PCBs obtain permits; ·transformers containing more than 0.05% by weight of PCBs are decontaminated under the conditions specified by the Directive. In accordance with the committee procedure referred to in Directive 75/442/EEC , the Commission: ·had to fix the reference methods of measurement to determine the PCB content of contaminated materials ; ·could fix technical standards for the other methods of disposing of PCBs; ·had to make available a list of the manufacture names of capacitors, resistors and induction coils containing PCBs ; ·had to determine, if necessary, other less hazardous substitutes for PCBs.

The Commission completed the tasks mentioned above, as appropriate. Within three years following the adoption of Directive 96/59/EC, Member States had to draw up plans for the decontamination and/or disposal of inventoried equipment and the PCBs contained therein and plans for the collection and subsequent disposal of equipment not subject to inventory. Furthermore, under the recast of the POPs Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 all remaining PCBs within di-electric equipment (above 0.005% PCB in volumes greater than 0.05 dm3) are to be irreveribly destroyed by 2025. 2.2.4.Other environmental legislation with POP relevance In addition to the chemicals legislation, environmental legislation especially those targeting water, waste and products also cover POP-related issues. Table 3 summarizes the most relevant legislation with POP relevance and indicates which POPs are regulated. The table also includes environmental legislation covering releases of unintentionally produced POPs. The legislation is presented in more detail in Part II if further measures for the implementation may be necessary. In comparison with the first Implementation Plan, four new legislative acts have been adopted: Directive 2008/98/EC on Waste (Waste Framework Directive), Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste, Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions (including waste incineration), Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 on the EU Ecolabel and Directive 2006/11/EC on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment. The most important legislation covering the release of unintentionally produced POPs is Directive 2010/75/EU, the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) which since 7 January 2014 has repealed and replaced Directive 2008/1/EC concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC Directive) and Directive 2000/76/EC on Waste Incineration (amongst others). The purpose of the IED is to ensure a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole. Industrial installations operating activities covered by Annex I of the IED are required to obtain an environmental permit from the authorities in the Member States. Emissions of all relevant polluting substances (including POPs), which are likely to be emitted in significant quantities, have to be regulated in the permit. The whole environmental performance of the installation is taken into account, covering e.g. emissions to air, water and land, generation of waste, use of raw materials, energy efficiency, noise, prevention of accidents, and restoration of the site upon closure. The conditions set out in this permit, in particular the emission limits, have to be based on the application of BAT. The definition of BAT in the IED generally corresponds with the one of the Stockholm Convention. In order to identify BAT, the Commission organises an information exchange, where BAT is described and defined for the different industrial sectors in so-called Best Available Techniques REFerence Documents (BREFs). Where relevant, also for POPs, BAT Associated Emission Levels (BAT-AELs) are developed. Under the IED, the BAT conclusions is the part of the BREF that is formally adopted as Commision Implementing Decision. The BAT and BAT-AELs set out therein are to be used by the permitting authorities in setting permit conditions and emission limit values for permits. Emission levels set in the permits for certain pollutants should be within the BAT-AELs unless a derogation from BAT-AELs applies to the installation. Table 3 Further environmental legislative instruments with relevance on the use and disposal of POPs (including unintentionally produced POPs) Acronym Legal reference POPs regulated / POP reference Areas of regulation EU Ecolabel Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 Criteria of product categories laid down in Commission decisions may cover POPs e.g. in textile floor covering for trace contamination with POP pesticides A product cannot obtain an ecolabel if it contains a PBT/vPvB substance. Different product categories, see: RoHS Directive Directive 2011/65/EU Ban of PBDE and other hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. Manufacture and import of electrical and electronic products Waste Directive Directive 2008/98/EC The classification of waste as hazardous waste should be based, inter alia, on the Union legislation on chemicals, in particular concerning the classification of preparations as hazardous, including concentration limit values used for that purpose. Waste Waste Shipments Regulation Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 This regulation establishes procedures and control regimes for the shipment of waste. Reference is made in Annex VIII of this Regulation to technical guidelines under the framework of the Basel Convention, on the environmentally sound management of waste containing or contaminated with POPs. Waste Industrial Emissions Directive Directive 2010/75/EU Waste incineration: Emission limit values for air, discharges of waste water for dioxins and furans. Industrial activities: Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans are among the main air pollutants to be considered in permitting and persistent hydrocarbons and persistent and bioaccumulable organic toxic substances among the main water pollutants. First series of Commission Implementing Decisions establishing BAT conclusions for the different industrial sectors have been adopted under the IED (with more to follow over the coming years). Industrial emissions Directive 76/464/EEC has been codified as 2006/11/EC Directive 2006/11/EC Pollution through the discharge of the various dangerous substances within List I into the aquatic environment must be eliminated. List I contains certain individual substances selected mainly on the basis of their toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation. Pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment Landfill Directive Directive 1999/31/EC Hazardous waste for landfills needs a prior treatment. Waste WEEE Directive Directive 2012/19/EU (recast) Provisions on waste containing hazardous substances, e.g. removal of PCB containing capacitors and plastic containing brominated flame retardants from all separately collected WEEE, mandatory segregation of PCB-containing components,. Note the original WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC) was recast in 2012. Treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) Environmental Liability Directive Directive 2004/35/EC Intended to reduce incidents and also ensure remediation on the basis of the polluter pays principle of significant emissions both to land (and as a consequence soil) and water. The Directive raises expectations in terms of preventive action, reducing the incidence of emissions as well as promoting remediation. The directive is focused on instances of environmental damage, such as emissions of pollutants that change the status of land, water, and biodiversity. The Directive only applies to environmental damage caused by an emission, event or incident which took place after 30 April 2007 where such damage derives either from activities carried out after that date or activities which were carried out but had not finished before that date ELV Directive Directive 2000/53/EC Due to the segregation of hazardous components from the vehicle, the releases of unintentionally produced POPs from shredder plants are decreased. Collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of end-of-life vehicles. Groundwater Directive Directive 2006/118/EC Groundwater quality standards and threshold values for most important pollutants, among them pesticides. Protection of groundwater from detrimental concentrations of harmful pollutants. Drinking Water Directive Council Directive 98/83/EC Standards for the most common substances (so-called parameters), among them PAHs, and pesticides (aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor and heptachlor epoxide). Quality of water intended for human consumption Marine Strategy Framework Directive Directive 2008/56/EC Synthetic compounds identified as priority substances under directive 2000/60/EC which are relevant for the marine environment. Protection of marine waters under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Member States Water Framework Directive Directive 2000/60/EC The Water framework directive acts as the parent piece of legislation for all water and water quality related issues within the EU. For POPs the water framework directive along with the daughter directive on Environmental Quality Standards put in place the requirements to quantify and manage the release of POPs into the water environment. This includes the development of River Basin Management Plans to actively identify and manage the anthropogenic burdens upon waters within the EU. Protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. SEVESO III Directive Directive 2012/18/EU Pollution from industrial accidents. Prevention, Preparedness and Response to chemical accidents Ambient air quality Directive 2004/107/EC Limit values for benzo[a]pyrene as a marker for PAH in ambient air. Protection of ambient air quality for identified polutants Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) Directive 2013/39/EC The EQS directive repeals the ‘Annex X’ list of priority and priority hazardous substances quoted under the water framework directive (2000/60/EC). Annex I of the EQS Directive expands upon the Annex X list with additional named pollutants, deemed as priority or priority hazardous substances (including POPs) for which maximum environmental concentrations (EQS) must not be exceeded. In the case of priority hazardous substances, discharges, emissions and losses must be phased out to natural background levels. The directive also creates a ‘watch-list’ for monitoring additional substances of concern in the natural environment. The directive also places a requirement for inventories of discharges, emissions and losses for priority substances which should inform planning and reporting under the river basin management plans (RBMPs) communicated under the water framework directive. Protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. Dioxins and Furans, PCBs PAHs, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene, pentachlorobenzene are included in Annex I as PHS, i.e.there is an objective to phase out discharges, emissions and losses. Fertilising Products Regulation Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 will be replaced from 16 July 2022 by Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 The new legistlation includes a compost safety limit for total PAHs (EPA 16) of 6 mg/kg dm, which also applies to any material recirculated through the composting process Fertilising products applied to land 2.2.5.Legislation on food and feed and on the protection of public health Regulations (EC) No 1881/2006 and 396/2005 and Directive 2002/32/EC set maximum residues levels for POP substances in food and feed. Regulation (EC) No 1883/2006 sets minimum requirements on methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in certain foodstuffs and Regulation (EC) 152/2009 sets minimum requirements on methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in feed (see Table 4 ). EFSA conducts an annual monitoring programme for residues of pesticides in food. POPs formerly used as pesticides are covered by MRLs and are therefore included in the monitoring programme. EFSA is responsible for preparing an annual report on pesticide residues based on an analysis of information submitted by Member States in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 396/2005. In comparison with the situation when the first Implementation Plan was drafted, there are substantial changes in the Union food and feed legislation. These changes relate to the conversion of the maximum levels in feed and food for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, previously expressed in Toxic Equivalent Factors (TEF) 1998, into maximum levels expressed in TEF 2005. Furthermore maximum levels for non dioxin like PCBs (the so called indicator PCBs) have been established in feed and food. The POP Regulation requires the setting up of emission inventories for unintentionally produced POPs, some of which may enter the food chain via atmospheric deposition and bioaccumulation. More detail can be found in section 2.1.1. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) produced a report in May 2015 to evaluate the methodologies used internationally in deriving health based safety values for dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs within food. This study aimed to better understand the methodologies used by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), US EPA, and Scientific Committee on Food (SCF). The study notes that, while the JECFA and SCF base assessments on animal data, the USEPA make use of human data. Further differences in the modelling approach for toxicology and accepted no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) between SCF/JECFA and US-EPA resulted in US-EPA values being three orders of magnitude lower than the SCF/JECFA values. EFSA have stated that these differences warrant a comprehensive risk assessment to further understand the relationship between animal and human toxicology data. In June 2018 EFSA published a paper on the risk for animal and human health related to the presence of dioxins and dioxin‐like PCBs in feed and food. The data from experimental animal and epidemiological studies were reviewed and it was decided to base the human risk assessment on effects observed in humans and to use animal data as supportive evidence. The study essentially led to a new health-based guidance value for dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCB).





Table 4 Food & Feed related legislation with relevance to POPs Acronym Legal reference POPs regulated / POP reference Maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 - Dioxins (sum of polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like PCBs and non-dioxin-like PCBs (indicator PCBs) - Benzo(a)pyrene and the sum of of benzo(a)pyrene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and chrysene as a marker of carcinogenic PAH in certain foodstuffs Regulation (EU) No 252/2012 Methods of sampling and analysis for the control of levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in food for regulatory purposes Pesticide Residues in Food Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 Setting Maximum Residue Levels for POP Pesticides in food products Undesirable substances in animal feed Directive 2002/32/EC Aldrin, Dieldrin, Camphechlor (toxaphene), Chlordane, DDT, Endosulfan, Endrin, Heptachlor, Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH, incl. Lindane), Dioxins (sum of polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Regulation (EC) No 152/2009 Methods of sampling and analysis for checking the levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in feed for regulatory purposes 2.2.6.Information exchange between the Commission and the Member States on POPs in food and consumer products The information exchange among the Member States authorities and the Commission on the presence of POPs in food and consumer products is ensured by the rapid alert systems. There are currently two Union rapid alert systems and both are publicly available. The legal basis for their establishment are provided in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, Directive 2001/95/EC and Regulation (EC) No 765/2008. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) was put in place to provide food and feed control authorities with an effective tool to exchange information about measures taken responding to serious risks detected in relation to food or feed. This exchange of information helps Member States to act more rapidly and in a coordinated manner in response to a health threat caused by food or feed. Notifications cover e.g. the contamination of food and feed with dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs or with PAHs. The Rapid Alert System for non-food dangerous Products (RAPEX) facilitates the rapid exchange of information between Member States and the Commission on measures taken to prevent or restrict the marketing or use of products (non-feed/non-food) posing a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers. Measures ordered by national authorities and measures taken voluntarily by producers and distributors are reported by RAPEX. 2.2.7.Food monitoring within the European Union Routine monitoring of food and feed is an important aspect of early detection of contamination of food and feed by POPs. Under Regulation (EU) 2017/625 , a EU Reference Laboratory (EURL) was established in Freiburg, Germany tasked with developing analytical standards for dioxins and furans and PCBs within food and feed. EURL is further complemented by national laboratories within the Member States, who have the role of carrying out analysis for routine monitoring. In order to ensure comparability between EURL and national reference laboratories, proficiency tests are conducted twice annually. These tests involve the use of the same sample, which is issued for analysis by all national laboratories. The results are then collated and assessed with any marked deviation from the average result requiring process amendment and further testing for any specific national reference laboratory. Representatives from the national reference laboratories and EURL meet twice annually to review and discuss any specific topics of interest for analysis. Under Regulation (EC) 396/2005, Member States are required to share results of their official controls and other relevant information to the Commission. EFSA then prepares an annual report on pesticide residues in the Union, based on an analysis of this information (see Section 2.1.5). 2.2.8.Emission monitoring legislation The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) Regulation aims to enhance public access to environmental information. The E-PRTR replaced the European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER) in 2007 and includes additional pollutants and economic activities. E-PRTR covers 91 pollutants, and 65 economic activities which have to be reported by regulated facilities above set reporting thresholds. The E-PRTR also implements stricter threshold levels for a number of pollutants (including POPs) (see also sections 3.3.1 on emission monitoring and 2.3.9 on monitoring efforts of the Union) compared to previous EPER inventories. The E-PRTR also collects and collates information on the transfer and management of waste, which includes total quantities of hazardous waste disaggregated to facility level. Further information on specific pollutants or concentrations of pollutants within hazardous waste is not a reporting requirement of the E-PRTR. The European Commission launched an initative early in 2016 to aid access to monitoring data, which includes information on POPs, called the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring data (IPCheM). The platform is managed by the Joint Research Centre in collaboration with a number of international and national bodies. It draws together monitoring data-sets in the form of ‘modules’, which are available publicly. IPCheM aims to support a more coordinated approach for collecting, storing, accessing and assessing data related to the occurrence of chemicals and chemical mixtures, in relation to humans and the environment. In the current version of the platform (IPCheM Version 5.0, March 2018), the portal was revisited and integrated with sections dedicated to end users and data providers. The POPs Regulation furthermore identifies the key role of the IPCheM platform for monitoring data. The POPs Regulation states that IPCheM will act as the main repository for POPs monitoring data developed and reported by Member States. It also states that the format of data and software to be used when developing and submitting data to IPCheM will be agreed between the Member States and ECHA to help maximise efficiency and comparability. 2.2.9.Public access to environmental information

The Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information guarantees the right of access to environmental information held by or for public authorities. This right is for any applicant (private individuals, organisations, etc.) and has to be granted without any justification. With regards to emissions, no request can be refused. Thus, this directive is a powerful instrument to gather emission data, also on POPs, and can be used supplementary to the above mentioned on E-PRTR. 2.3.Strategies, policies, and programmes 2.3.1.Sustainable development In 2001, the European Union adopted the Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS) to provide a long-term vision combining economic dynamism, social cohesion and high environmental standards . In 2009, the European Commission Communication COM(2009) 400 final reviewed the EU SDS to respond to the most recent economic and financial crisis from the perspective of a long-term sustainable development with the goal to further mainstream the EU SDS into the European policy fields. From the seven key challenges proposed, two contain POPs related issues though they are not explicitly mentioned, i.e. sustainable consumption and manufacture as well as public health. The review reaffirms the position of the European Council about sustainable development as a fundamental Union objective under the Treaty of Lisbon. This follow-up of the Lisbon Strategy was adopted in June 2010 by the heads and governments of the Member States. In the Union, a key issue is to mainstream sustainable development thinking into various parts of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The EU SDS contributed to moving Europe out of the crisis and laying the foundations for a more sustainable future built on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. In monitoring progress under the EU SDS, the Commission (EUROSTAT) has produced bi-annual monitoring reports on sustainable development, most recently in September 2015. Concerning sustainable development, the European Union had a key role during the UN negotiations on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the sustainable development goals (SDGs), which was adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015. There are 17 goals, which are to be achieved by 2030 and which include responsible consumption and manufacture; good health and well being; industry, innovation and infrastructure; life below water and life on land. The new European Consensus for Development frames the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in partnership with all developing countries, taking due account of the framework provided by the Lisbon Treaty. In particular, the European Union and its Member States undertake to promote resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and manufacture, including the sustainable management of chemicals and waste, with a view to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation and enable the transition to a circular economy. To help support these aims the POPs Regulation places a key focus on waste and sustainability. This includes increased traceability for all wastes that contain POPs and obligations on Member States to put in place measures to support the implementation of the Regulation to identify POPs within waste and their final destination. The Regulation already includes low-POP thresholds in its Annex IV at concentrations equal or above which wastes must not be recycled (although pre-treatment operation to separate POP substances or to sort out POP-containing waste are permitted), however, the new requirements for traceability will also cover below threshold concentrations for POPs in waste. The Stockholm Convention and the POPs Regulation are intended to protect human health and the environment from those substances identified as POPs. Part of this work includes aspects around innovation and sustainability to ensure that one POP substance is not replaced by another POP. In the Union this is further controlled by the REACH Regulation under the authorisation and restriction processes. 2.3.2.Substitution of substances for intentional use A fundamental component of sustainable development and elimination of POPs from goods intentionally placed on the market is the substitution of POPs substances by alternatives that do not have the characteristsics detailed under Annex D of the Stockholm Convention. Within European Union the REACH Regulation aims to identify substances which are persistent, bioaccumulating and/or toxic (in addition to those that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction or substances which give rise to an equivalent level of concern), termed ‘substances of very high concern’ (SVHCs). A key aim of the REACH Authorisation process is to ensure that SVHCs are progresively replaced with suitable alternatives. Action to restrict the use of certain PBT substances and require the use of alternatives, has also been taken through the REACH restriction process. Note that under the POPs Regulation, ECHA will take a central role in the development of scientific dossiers for new candidate POPs, allowing greater synergies between REACH and POPs on the international stage. As part of the 7th EAP, the European Commission funded a pilot project to look at substitution with regard to brominated flame-retardants. The Enfiro project was intended to help develop alternatives to brominated flame-retardants (including substances identified as POPs), as well documenting lessons learnt in order to help others successfully transition away from POPs based substances to safer alternatives. Alongside the Enfiro project the European Commission has aimed to promote collaboration in the field of substitution. The Executive Agency for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (EASME) (part of the programme to assist small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for innovation (COSME)) has developed the Partnership Opportunities Database (POD) to help SMEs within the Union make contact with partner organisations to look at the issue of substitution, which includes the issue of substitution for SVHCs substances within commercial manufacture and goods. A number of other valuable resources are also open to industry including the information provided by the ECHA website, Subsport, and Medswitch amongst others. 2.3.3.Environment Action Programme The Union’s principal strategy for environmental policy is the Environment Action Programme (EAP), which is also relevant for this implementation plan. In June 2013, political agreement was reached on the seventh Environment Action Programme (EAP), the 7th EAP. The 7th EAP sets out the priority objectives for European Union environment policy to 2020, set out in an ambitious longer-term vision for an inclusive, green and competitive European economy that safeguards the environment. The programme identifies three key objectives: ·to protect, conserve and enhance the Union’s natural capital; ·to turn the Union into a resource-efficient, green, and competitive low-carbon economy; ·to safeguard the Union's citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and wellbeing.

The priority areas can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/action-programme/. The 7th EAP sets out a framework to support the achievement of nine priority objectives through development and better implementation of Union environment law, state of the art science, securing the necessary investments in support of environment and climate change policy, and improving the way that environmental concerns and requirements are reflected in other policies. The Programme aims to boost efforts to help EU cities become more sustainable, and improve the Union's capacity to meet regional and global environment and climate challenges. Priority objective 3 of the 7th EAP "To safeguard the Union’s citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and well-being" specifically aims to tackle hazardous chemicals, including nanomaterials, and chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system. This will in particular focus on the assessment of the combination effects of substances and the effective management through relevant Union legislation. In July 2018, a report was published on the study ‘Towards an 8th Environmental Action Programme – Local and regional dimension’. The purpose of the study was to inform the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in the preparation of its own-initiative opinion on the EAP, focused specifically on a possible 8th EAP. The study aimed to support the opinion through an analysis of the local and regional dimensions of a potential 8th EAP. More recently in December 2019, the European Commission presented the European Green Deal, setting out a roadmap for making the Union’s economy fully sustainable. As part of the roadmap the Green Deal also sets ambitions for eliminating pollution, including an action plan for zero-pollution and a new chemicals strategy for a toxic-free environment. 2.3.4.The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection was adopted by the European Commission in 2006. The purpose of the Strategy is to “protect the soil while using it sustainably, through the prevention of further degradation, the preservation of soil function and the restoration of degraded soils”. The four pillars of the Strategy are awareness raising, research, integration, and legislation. The Strategy has resulted in an increased focus on soil issues, with this becoming the focus of many research projects. To date these have been primarily on issues such as soil degradation, impacts of agriculture, etc., rather than on POPs. However, with soil protection and remediation of soil contamination falling under the Strategy, there is the potential for this to be the subject of future research, in particular on the consolidated harmonisation of soil monitoring for POPs and other contaminants. Indeed, the POPs Regulation now gives much greater onus on contaminated sites, encouraging Member States to include details of identified sites and work to identify contaminated sites within both national reports and national implementation plans. 2.3.5.Strategies for control of pesticides and chemicals The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability , which was adopted in October 2020, strives for a toxic-free environment, where chemicals are produced and used in a way that maximises their contribution to society including achieving the green and digital transition, while avoiding harm to the planet and to current and future generations. It envisages the EU industry as a globally competitive player in the production and use of safe and sustainable chemicals. The strategy proposes a clear roadmap and timeline for the transformation of industry with the aim of attracting investment into safe and sustainable products and production methods. This strategy sets a pathway towards implementation of this vision through actions to support innovation for safe and sustainable chemicals, strengthen the protection of human health and the environment, simplify and strengthen the legal framework on chemicals, build a comprehensive knowledge base to support evidence-based policy making, and set the example of sound management of chemicals globally. The Union Strategy for Dioxins, Furans and Polychlorinated Biphenyls adopted in 2001 (COM(2001) 593) has the goal to assess the current state of the environment and the ecosystem and to reduce exposure from dioxins and PCBs to humans and the environment. In July 2007, the Communication of the Commission COM(2007) 396 final provided the second progress report on the main achievements with regard to the implementation of the strategy during the period between 2004 and 2006, elucidating the several environmental measures on POPs which have been adopted in 2004 and the new maximum levels for contaminants in food and feed, which have been updated in 2006. In October 2010, the Commission adopted the third progress report on the dioxin strategy for the period 2007 to 2009 (COM(2010) 562 final) . The report concluded that the overall objective of the strategy, i.e. to develop an integrated approach in order to reduce the presence of dioxins, furans and PCBs in the environment as well as in feed and food, has been achieved to a large extent, bearing in mind the reduction of industrial emissions of these pollutants by about 80% over the past two decades. The report further concluded that additional sources should be targeted by national or local measures. In December 2013, the Commission put forward Recommendation 2013/711/EU for further reduction of dioxins and furans, and dioxin-like PCBs within food groups, as amended by Commission Recommendation 2014/663/EU of 11 September 2014. This Recommendation called for increased monitoring of these substances within free range eggs, organic eggs, lamb and sheep livers and sea food (particularly crabs). The recommendation also indicates acceptable levels for the presence of dioxins and furans, and dioxin-like PCBs, within food. Further progress is expected within the framework of the Union Implementation Plan on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the relevant NIPs elaborated by Member States. 2.3.6.OpenFoodTox database for pesticide residues in food Since the creation of EFSA in 2002, the authority has completed food-based risk assessments for more than 4,000 substances. For individual substances, a summary of human health (and depending on relevant legislation animal health and ecological hazard assessments) data and conclusions have been collated and summarised within a publicly available database called ‘OpenFoodTox’. This database provides high level summarised data on a substance-by-substance basis including details of outcomes for specific toxicological endpoints, and hazard reference values that have been developed and then adopted by different expert committees. This includes data on the safe limits for pesticide residues in food covering a number of the POPs covered by the POPs Regulation.

2.3.7.Environment and Health Action Plan The Environment and Health Action Plan (EHAP) was launched in June 2004 to coordinate health, environment and research areas and to develop a system for integrated information on environment and health and to assess the environmental impact on human health more efficiently. In June 2007, a mid-term report was published in a Communication of the Commission (COM(2007) 314 final ). It highlighted the growing links between environment policy and health policy. It showed, for example, that an important development in relation to the Strategy on Dioxins and PCBs was the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004. The progress report on the implementation of the EHAP of March 2010 (SEC(2010) 387) presented the progress of activities after the mid-term review, assessed the results achieved since 2004 and suggested the follow-up for the Action Plan post 2010. 2.3.8.Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) Many environmental problems transcend national boundaries and can only be efficiently handled through international co-operation. The European Union is a party in more than 40 international environmental agreements , among them the Stockholm Convention, the Basel Convention, the Rotterdam Convention and the Minamata Convention. Within the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a number of useful documents that address the question of how to improve communication on chemicals in products and articles including POPs have been developed. The Chemicals in Products Programme (CiP Programme) was initiated by the Union in 2009 and welcomed by the SAICM Governing body at ICCM4, in September 2015. The finalised Programme and the accompanying guidance can be found on UNEP's web page. 2.3.9.Monitoring efforts of the Union Monitoring efforts in the Union cover monitoring of emission loads into the environment and monitoring of environmental concentrations. The European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) is a scientifically based and policy driven programme for international cooperation under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). The EMEP provides scientific information about emission inventories and emission projections, atmospheric monitoring and modelling as well as an integrated assessment to help solve transboundary air pollution problems. This set of information is an important basis for developing further emission control strategies and implementing the Convention and its Protocols. Several measures relating to the monitoring of POPs’ emissions have been taken by the Member States in order to identify and characterize sources and releases of these substances. Many of these measures are included in the NIPs and have benefited from the numerous national policy frameworks. Besides the national emission inventories for the release of unintentionally produced POPs into the air, water and soil, the EMEP emission inventory and the E-PRTR database are further available inventories of releases. Article 4 of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) also requires the development of inventories of discharges and losses for priority and priority hazardous substances (which includes some POPs). This information is intended to inform planning and reporting for river basin management plans (RBMPs), with the first cycle covering the 2009-2015 period. The fourth implementation report (2015) included a review of progress in the implementation of the Programmes of Measures planned by Member States in their RBMPs. A Commission report on the assment of Member States’ second RBMPs is ongoing and is expected later in 2019. The EEA report on ‘European waters – Assessment of status and pressures 2018’, indicated that inputs from urban wastewater treatment plants lead to contamination of over 13,000 water bodies with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury, cadmium, lead, and nickel being the dominated substances causing failure to achieve good chemical status. PAHs in particularly have been linked to atmospheric deposition from combustion of fuels, rather than direct release to water. As regards the monitoring of environmental concentrations, there are several regional monitoring programmes established as part of regional conventions or initiatives that covers part of the Union and includes some of the POPs. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) analyses fluxes, pathways and environmental levels of POPs and presents an assessment of the Arctic environment contamination . Other examples are the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Programme of the Waddensea (TMAP), the Monitoring Network in the Alpine Region for Persistent and other Organic Pollutants (MONARPOP) as well as sea conventions (such as e.g. HELCOM, OSPAR and MED POL). The mission of the European Environment Agency (EEA) is to provide sound and independent information on the environment, with the goal to ensure that decision-makers and the general public are kept informed about European environmental data, knowledge and assessments. The Agency collects data on POP emissions and where available data on POP concentrations in the environment and analyses their trends , . Some of the Agency’s data on POPs originate from the monitoring of Priority Substances in water bodies conducted by Member States under the Water Framework Directive. As mentioned in Section 2.1.5, for POPs present in pesticide residues, EFSA provides an annual monitoring report, based on an analysis of information provided by Member States. 2.4.Financial instruments Using differe