COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE On the implementation of the Community Strategy for dioxins, furans, and polychlorinated biphenyls (COM(2001)593) – Third progress report
Date: 2010-10-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: activity report, environmental protection, public health, toxic substance, toxicology, waste management

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 15.10.2010 
COM(2010) 562 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE 

On the implementation of the Community Strategy for dioxins, furans, and 
polychlorinated biphenyls (COM(2001)593) – Third progress report 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE 

On the implementation of the Community Strategy for dioxins, furans, and 
polychlorinated biphenyls (COM(2001)593) – Third progress report 

1. 

Context 

Dioxins,  furans  and  polychlorinated  biphenyls  (PCBs)  are  a  group  of  toxic  and  stable 
chemicals that affect human health and the environment. Once released into the environment 
these organic pollutants will persist for decades in soils, waters and the atmosphere and hence 
continue to be of concern for a very long time after the release has ceased. These pollutants 
cause  impairment  of  the  immune  system,  the nervous  system,  the  endocrine  system  and  the 
reproductive  functions  and  are  also  suspected  of  causing  cancer.  Foetuses  and  newborn 
children are most sensitive to exposure. There is considerable public, political and scientific 
concern  over  the  negative  effects  on  human  health  and  on  the  environment  of  long-term 
exposure even to very small amounts of these chemicals. 

A general reduction of dioxin, furan and PCBs releases to the environment and exposure to 
humans has been achieved in particular through comprehensive control of industrial emission 
sources and through strategies aiming at reducing the presence of these substances in feed and 
food. Between 1990 and 2007 industrial emissions of newly formed dioxins, furans and PCBs 
were  reduced  in  the  European  Union  by  80%1.  Among  the  prevailing  sources  residential 
combustion accounts for 22% of total emissions2, while the remainder of releases originates 
from  a  variety  of  industrial  and  non-industrial  sources.  Further  reductions  require  a  better 
analysis  of  local  sources  and  seem  to  be  more  successfully  addressed  by  regional  and/or 
national measures. 

To reduce human intake, it is important to reduce the levels in the entire food chain since food 
consumption is the most important route for human exposure. Dioxins emitted to air can for 
example be deposited on soil and plants or in water and taken up and accumulated by animals 
and  fish  as  they  feed,  thereby  entering  the  food  chain.  Measures  to  reduce  the  exposure  to 
dioxins, furans and PCBs therefore need to be taken both for the environment and for feed and 
food.  

In  order  to  address  the  health  and  environmental  concerns  due  to  these  pollutants  the 
Commission adopted in 2001 a Communication to the Council, the European Parliament and 
the Economic and Social Committee setting out a Community Strategy for dioxins, furans and 
PCBs3  (Dioxin  Strategy).  The  Dioxin  Strategy  consists  of  two  parts:  one  part  containing 
actions for reducing the presence of dioxins, furans and PCBs in the environment and one part 
containing  actions  for  reducing  their  presence  in  feed  and  food.  The  Environment  Council 
endorsed the Commission's Strategy on dioxins in all parts and requested the Commission to 
report  back  its  implementation.  A  first  progress  report  covering  the  period  2002-2003  was 

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Reporting to EMEP under the Convention of Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.  
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/dioxin/pdf/brochure09.pdf.  
COM(2001) 593 final, 24 October 2001. 

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provided  by  the  Commission  on  13  April  20044  and  a  second  progress  report  covering  the 
period  2004-2006  on  10  April  20075.  This  Communication  is  the  third  progress  report 
summarising the  activities undertaken by the  Commission  over the period 2007-2009 in the 
areas concerned.  

2. 

Activities  undertaken  to  reduce  the  presence  of  dioxins  and  PCBs  in  the 
environment.  

2.1. 

Contribution to and implementation of multilateral environmental agreements.  

Regulation (EC) 850/20046 on persistent organic pollutants (the Regulation) was adopted in 
April 2004, in order to implement the Stockholm Convention (the Convention) and the 1998 
Protocol  on  POPs  under  the  Convention  on  Long-Range  Transboundary  Air  Pollution  (the 
POPs  Protocol)  within  the  European  Union.  The  Regulation  contains  provisions  regarding 
production, placing on the market and use of chemicals, management of stockpiles and wastes 
and measures to reduce unintentional releases of POPs. Furthermore, Member States must set 
up  emission  inventories  for  unintentionally  produced  POPs,  national  implementation  plans 
(NIPs) as well as monitoring and information exchange mechanisms. 

The  POPs  Protocol  was  amended  at  the  27th  session  of  the  Executive  Body  for  the 
Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) in December 2009. The 
amendments  introduced  include  further  requirements  for  reductions  of  dioxins,  furans  and 
PCBs  by  setting  emission  limit  values  for  example  for  waste  incinerators,  sinter  plants  and 
secondary  steel  plants.  It  should  be  noted  that  these  amendments  are  largely  covered  by 
existing  EU  legislation.  Positive  effects  from  these  amendments  can  therefore  be  expected 
mainly  from  parties  outside  of  the  EU  and  their  ratification  is  therefore  crucial  to  reap 
additional reductions in the UNECE region.  

Article  12  of  the  Regulation  requires  annual  reporting  by  Member  States  on  the  actual 
production and use of POPs and triennial reporting on the implementation of other provisions 
of the Regulation. The Commission is required to compile the reports and integrate them with 
the  information  from  the  EPER7,  the  E-PRTR8  and  the  Emission  Inventory  of  EMEP9  in  a 
synthesis  report.  The  first  synthesis  report  was  finalised  by  a  contractor  on  behalf  of  the 
Commission  in  200910  based  on  the  2004–2006  triennial  reports  and  the  2006–2008  annual 
reports.  A  summary  of  the  synthesis  report  and  a  discussion  on  progress  achieved  in  the 
implementation  of  the  Community  Implementation  Plan  (CIP)11  until  the  end  of  2009  is 

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COM(2001) 240 final. 
COM(2007) 396 final. 
OJ L 229, 29.6.2004, p. 5 
EPER (European Pollutant Emission Register) established by Commission Decision 2000/479/EC 
E-PRTR  (European  Pollutant  Release  and  Transfer  Register)  established  by  the  Regulation  (EC) 
166/2006. 
EMEP  (Co-operative  programme  for  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  the  long  range  transmission  of  air 
pollutants in Europe) 
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/pops/index_en.htm. The contractor who wrote this report is responsible 
for its content.  
SEC (2007) 341 

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included  in  a  recent  report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the 
Council12. The main conclusions of the report are as follows:  

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The  requirements  of  the  Regulation  are  largely  fulfilled  as  concerns  intentionally 
produced POPs. Production, placing on the market and use has been phased out and 
stock inventories have been prepared.  

Elaboration  of  National  Implementation  Plans  (NIPs)  pursuant  to  the  Convention 
requirements  and  the  related  establishment  of  National  Action  Plans  (NAPs)  on 
measures  to  identify,  characterise  and  minimise  the  total  releases  of  unintentional 
produced  POPs  are  not  yet  completed  or  have  not  even  started  in  a  number  of 
Member States. Only 19 Member States have developed NIPs and related NAPs and 
provided them to the Convention Secretariat.  

At the same time environmental monitoring of PCDD/Fs and PCBs is established in 
most Member States. However, there is no EU level database enabling evaluation of 
time  trends  in  the  environment,  nor  is  the  information  provided  by  Member  States 
sufficient  to  evaluate  policy  effectiveness  at  EU  level.  A  more  comprehensive  and 
detailed compilation of comparable monitoring data at EU level and establishment of 
a common information system is needed.  

The Commission provided financial support to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention 
on  POPs  for  further  elaboration  of  the  Standardized  Toolkit  for  Identification  and 
Quantification of Dioxin and Furan Releases (Toolkit). This Toolkit allows to identify sources 
of unintentionally released POPs (PCDD/Fs, PCBs and Hexachlorobenzene) and to quantify 
their emissions.  

Under  CLRTAP  a  new  major  assessment  is  underway  to  quantify  the  importance  of  long-
range and intercontinental transport of POPs, including dioxins, furans and PCBs. That effort 
is  jointly  lead  by  the  EU  (the  European  Commission)  and  the  USA  (US  Environmental 
Protection  Agency)  within  the  Task  Force  on  Hemispheric  Transport  of  Air  Pollution.  The 
2010 Assessment aims at providing a solid scientific basis for possible future policy dealing 
with this group of global pollution both within the CLRTAP, UNEP and at national level. The 
Task  Force  concluded  that  intercontinental  transport  is  small  but  significant  and  that  POP 
contamination  in  pristine  regions,  like  the  Arctic,  is  entirely  dominated  by  pollution  from 
outside this region.  

2.2. 

Developments  in  EU  environmental  policy  related  to  emissions  of  dioxins,  furans 
and polychlorinated biphenyls.  

Industrial Emissions 

In  the  area  of  industrial  emissions  the  Commission  presented  in  December  2007  a  proposal 
for  an  Industrial  Emissions  Directive  (IED)13  that  integrates  the  Integrated  Pollution 
Prevention  and  Control  Directive  2008/1/EC14  and  six  sectoral  Directives  on  industrial 
emissions into a single clear and coherent legislative instrument. Entry into force of the IED is 

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COM(2010)514  :  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the 
application of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 on persistent organic pollutants in accordance with Article 
12(6) of the Regulation. 
COM(2007) 844 final 
OJ L24, 29.1.2008, p8.  

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expected for the end of 2010 and its implementation by the Member States from the end of 
2012 onwards. This revised legislation will lead to significant benefits to the environment and 
human health by reducing industrial emissions including emissions of dioxins across the EU. 
This  will  in  particular  be  achieved  through  better  application  of  the  Best  Available 
Techniques  (BAT)  to  prevent  and  control  emissions.  Permit  conditions  for  industrial 
installations will have to be based on the BAT conclusions, which will be derived from the 
BAT  Reference  Documents  (BREFs)  and  will  be  adopted  by  the  Commission  in  agreement 
with the Member States.  

The work on identifying and updating BAT for the industrial activities covered by the IPPC 
Directive has continued. In the process of revising the BREFs in order to update them with the 
latest  information  on  BAT,  special  emphasis  was  put  on  a  comprehensive  coverage  of 
techniques to prevent and control POPs emissions. In particular, the information exchange for 
the  revision  of  the  BREFs  for  sectors  such  as  Iron  and  Steel  manufacturing,  Cement,  Lime 
and  Magnesium  Oxide  manufacturing  and  Non-ferrous  Metals  gathered  a  lot  of  new 
information  related  to  the  prevention  and  control  of  the  release  of  POPs,  in  particular 
PCDD/F, into the environment. This has led to new or updated conclusions on BAT fostering 
improved  processes  and  stricter  BAT  associated  emission  levels  for  those  polluting 
substances.  

As a result of a successful abatement policy of industrial emissions, the relative contribution 
of  domestic  sources  to  total  dioxin  emissions  has  increased  over  the  past  decades.  The 
Commission has initiated an information exchange15 in order to assist Member States in their 
efforts  towards  reduction  of  dioxin  emissions  and  to  ensure  that  knowledge  is  shared  and 
awareness is conveyed across the EU.  

Emissions to Water 

As  required  by  Article  16(4)  of  the  Water  Framework  Directive  (2000/60/EC),  the 
Commission is currently reviewing the list of priority substances in Annex X of the Directive, 
i.e. the list of  substances which  present a significant risk to or via the aquatic environment. 
These  should  be  subject  to  measures  aimed  at  progressive  reduction  and,  in  the  case  of 
priority  hazardous  substances,  cessation  or  phasing-out  of  emissions.  Article  8  of  Directive 
2008/105/EC  on  environmental  quality  standards  in  the  field  of  water  policy  requires  the 
review to consider among others the substances set out in its Annex III. These include dioxins 
and  PCBs,  which  are  therefore  under  consideration  for  inclusion  in  the  list  of  priority 
substances due to be proposed by the Commission early in 2011.  

Emissions to Soil 

Dioxins, furans, and polychlorinated biphenyls in the soil can enter the food and feed chains 
and contaminate water. Currently, there is no provision in EU law requiring the identification 
of sites contaminated by these substances.  

Pursuant to the Sixth Environment Action Programme, in 2006 the Commission adopted the 
Thematic  Strategy  for  Soil  Protection  including  a  proposal  for  a  Soil  Framework  Directive. 
The proposal aims, among others, at identifying sites across the EU contaminated by relevant 
,  including  dioxins,  furans,  and  polychlorinated  biphenyls,  in 
hazardous  substances 

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http://ec.europa.eu/environment/dioxin/pdf/brochure09.pdf 

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/dioxin/pdf/report09.pdf, 

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accordance with a step-wise procedure. Once identified, Member States would have to ensure 
that  these  contaminated  sites  are  remediated  in  accordance  with  a  nationally  established 
remediation  strategy.  The  proposal  is  currently  stalled  in  the  legislative  procedure.  In  the 
absence of such a Directive, there will be no EU-wide obligation to identify and remedy sites 
contaminated  by  hazardous  substances,  including  dioxins,  furans,  and  polychlorinated 
biphenyls. 

Disposal of PCBs and PCTs 

Pursuant to Directive 96/59/EC16 on the disposal of PCBs and PCTs, Member States continue 
in their efforts to eliminate PCBs and equipments contaminated with PCBs. After the expiry 
of the deadline, the Commission will verify the implementation of this provision and issue a 
report.  

3. 

3.1. 

Activities  undertaken  to  reduce  the  presence  of  dioxins  and  PCBs  in  feed  and 
food.  

Integrated approach to legislation on feed and food to reduce the presence of dioxins, 
furans and PCBs throughout the food chain 

Legislation establishing maximum and action levels for dioxins and furans in feed and food 
has been in place since 2002 and for dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs since 200617.  

The current action and maximum levels are established making use of the toxic equivalency 
factors  (TEFs)  established  by  WHO  in  1998.  Following  the  review  by  the  World  Health 
Organisation  (WHO)  of  the  toxicity  equivalence  factors  (TEF)  of  dioxins  and  dioxin-like 
polychlorinated  biphenyls  (PCBs)  in  2005,  the  existing  maximum  levels  on  dioxins  and 
dioxin-like PCBs in feed and food has been under review since 2007. In this review, not only 
the changes following the use of new TEF values have to be taken into account but also new 
knowledge as regards the occurrence of dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs in feed and food 
and the achieved reduction of the presence of these substances in feed and food.  

For  this  review,  the  European  Food  Safety  Authority  (EFSA)  has  compiled  all  occurrence 
data available using the new 2005 TEF values comparing these data making use with the 1998 
TEF  values  and  these  data  are  available  in  the  report  "Results  of  the  monitoring  of  dioxin 
levels  in  food  and  feed18".  The  data  contained  in  this  report  are  the  basis  for  the  discussion 
with  the  experts  from  the  Member  States  in  the  Expert  Committee  "Persistent  Organic 
Pollutants (POPs) in Food", as working party of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain 
and  Animal  Health,  section  Toxicological  Safety  of  the  Food  Chain.  It  is  expected  that  the 
discussions on the new maximum and action levels will be finalised by the end of 2010.  

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OJ L 243, 24.9.1996, p. 31 
For  feed:  Directive  2002/32/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  undesirable 
substances  in  animal  feed  as  amended  by  Commission  Directive  2006/13/EC  of  3  February  2006  as 
regards dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs(OJ L32, 4.2.2006, p. 44) 

For food: Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain 
contaminants in food. (OJ L364, 20.12.2006, p. 5) and Commission Recommendation 2006/88/EC of 6 
February  2006  on  the  reduction  of  the  presence  of  dioxins,  furans  and  PCBs  in  feedingstuffs  and 
foodstuffs (OJ L42, 14.2.2006, p. 26) 
European  Food  Safety  Authority;  Results  of  the  monitoring  of  dioxin  levels  in  food  and  feed.  EFSA 
Journal 2010; 8(3):1385 [35 pp.]. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1385. Available online:  

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However it was observed that it was impossible to perform an accurate trend analysis based 
on  the  available  data  and  it  is  recommended  to  perform  continuous  random  testing  of  a 
sufficient  number  of  samples  in  each  food  and  feed  group  across  the  European  Union  to 
ensure accurate assessments of the presence of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs and to perform 
reliable exposure assessment.  

The  Commission  together  with  EFSA  has  already  taken  initiatives  to  improve  the  data 
gathering and reporting and EFSA developed a common reporting format for data on dioxins 
and PCBs 19.  

On non-dioxin-like PCBs, the European Food Safety Authority has performed an assessment 
on  the  risks  for  public  and  animal  health  of  the  presence  of  non  dioxin-like  PCBs  (NDL-
PCBs) in feed and food20. Due to different sources of contamination, different places of origin 
of the feed and food commodities, as well as different production methods and circumstances, 
definite  relationships  between  the  presence  of  NDL-PCB  and  dioxins  and  dioxin-like  PCBs 
(DL-PCBs)  are  only  found  occasionally  in  specific  well-defined  contamination  cases  or  in 
geographically defined areas.  

Usually,  feed  and  food  containing  high  levels  of  NDL-PCB  will  also  contain  high  levels  of 
DL-PCB  and  dioxins  and  furans.  In  these  circumstances  the  existing  risk  management 
measures to reduce the presence of DL-PCBs  and dioxins and furans  in  feed and food, will 
probably also protect animals and consumers from elevated NDL-PCB exposure.  

In specific situations however, such as contamination with lower chlorinated PCB mixtures, 
where levels of NDL-PCB could be high, but levels of dioxins, furans and DL-PCBs could be 
low,  measures  to  reduce  the  presence  of  dioxins,  furans  and  DL-PCBs  will  not  guarantee 
protection of the population against food with high levels of NDL-PCBs.  

Therefore  EFSA  recommended  a  continued  effort  to  lower  the  levels  of  NDL-PCB  in  feed 
and food. 

Taking into account the conclusions of this risk assessment, discussions have been initiated on 
the setting of regulatory levels for non-dioxin-like PCBs in feed and food. It has already been 
agreed with the experts from the Member States to establish maximum levels on NDL PCBs 
on the basis of the sum of 6 indicator NDL PCBs (PCB 28, 52,101,138, 153 and 180) and to 
make  use  of  recent  occurrence  data.  EFSA  has  collected  and  compiled  existing  occurrence 
data on the presence of NDL-PCBs in feed and food. It is expected that the discussions on the 
maximum levels for NDL-PCBs in feed and food will be finalised by the end of 2010. 

3.2.  Management of a major contamination incident involving dioxins and PCBs.  

In December 2008, during routine monitoring by the Irish authorities of the food chain for a 
range of contaminants, elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found in pig 
meat originating in Ireland. As these PCB levels might be an indicator for unacceptable dioxin 
contamination,  further  investigations  were  immediately  started  to  determine  the  dioxin 
content and to identify the possible source of contamination. Analytical results confirmed the 
presence of very high levels of dioxins in pig meat 

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http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/datexdata/docs/ReportingFormatDioxinPCBs.xls 
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/doc/284.pdf  

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The use of contaminated bread crumbs produced from bakery waste was identified to be the 
source. The contamination was due to the direct heating process whereby combustion gases 
come  in  direct  contact  with  the  material  to  dry.  The  fuel  used  was  apparently  contaminated 
with  PCB  transformer  oil  which  after  burning  results  in  high  levels  of  dioxins  in  the 
combustion gases which were deposited on the material to be dried.  

Member  States  have  been  asked  to  establish  on  the  basis  of  the  existing  legislative  tools  a 
vigilant  monitoring  system  for  businesses  in  feed  and  food  which  use  direct  heating  and  to 
perform the appropriate controls on it.  

4. 

Research activities 

To  fill  some  of  the  existing  knowledge  gaps  dioxins,  furans  and  PCBs,  together  with  other 
substances, have been addressed in a number of research projects funded under the Sixth and 
Seventh  Research  Framework  Programme  focussing  on  exposure,  biomonitoring,  health 
effects and improving toxicological assessment of dioxins. Research on these substances has 
also been undertaken by the Joint Research Centre in the areas of  

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Generation of PCDD/F-emission factors in support to the implementation monitoring 
of the Stockholm Convention on POPs. 

Evaluation  of  the  dioxin  content  of  milk  fat  as  suitable  indicator  for  integrated 
environmental/exposure monitoring. 

Levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in soil as a function of land use practice.  

Investigation  of  river  basin  specific  pollutants  in  support  to  the  Water  Framework 
Directive  (WFD)  -  Dioxins  and  Furans  in  the  Rivers  Elbe,  Danube  and  their 
tributaries. 

Identification  of  the  sources  for  high  PCDD/F  ambient  air  levels  in  new  Member 
States. Support to Enlargement. 

Fate of PCDD/Fs and other POPs at the air/water interface.  

Monitoring atmospheric levels of PCDD/Fs and other POPs on and off shore. 

5. 

Conclusions 

The  overall  objective  of  the  Dioxin  Strategy  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  with  the  reduction  of  industrial  emissions  of  these 
pollutants  by  about  80%  over  the  past  two  decades.  The  introduction  of  revised  legislation 
regulating industrial emissions is expected to further reduce these emissions.  

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Remaining  sources  of  dioxins,  furans  and  polychlorinated  biphenyls  are  relatively  wide 
spread over small-scale industrial and non industrial sources and seem to be more effectively 
targeted by national/regional and local measures. 

Certain  areas  where  further  analysis  continues  to  be  needed  are  related  to  a  better 
understanding of the occurrence of dioxins in food and feed and secondary releases from soils 
and waters of contaminated sites.  

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