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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

04/10/22 14:46 PM IST

Stockholm Convention to take final call on 5 Persistent Organic Pollutants

In News 
  • The 18th meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) Review Committee (POPRC-18) to the Stockholm Convention has included five more chemicals in its agenda.
Major Highlights 
  • It listed ‘Dechlorane Plus’ (flame retardant) and UV-328 (stabilizer) under Annex A of the Stockholm Convention.
  • Deferred its consideration of the draft risk profile on chlorpyrifos, after members were unable to agree that the pesticide was likely to lead to adverse effects.
  • POPRC-18 aims to list each of these chemicals in Annex A (elimination), B (restriction) and/or C (unintended release) of the Stockholm Convention.
Chlorpyrifos
  • Chlorpyrifos was registered under the Insecticide Act of 1968 since 1977 and Anupam Verma Committee recommended its review for continued use in 2015.
  • China and India are among the largest producers of chlorpyrifos. Nearly 48 per cent of chlorpyrifos or 24,000 tonnes was produced in India.
  • Globally, some 50,000 tonnes of chlorpyrifos is being used annually, according to estimates by the China Crop Protection Industry Association.
  • Nearly 48 per cent of chlorpyrifos, or 24,000 tonnes, was produced in India.
  • Some 11,000 tonnes were used within the country and 12,000 tonnes were exported. Around 1,000 tonnes were kept as stockpiles, estimated PMFAI.
  • Chlorpyrifos was approved for agricultural use in 2021, which includes its use as a pesticide against pests affecting Bengal gram, rice and cotton.
  • It is one of the ten pesticides banned by Punjab and Haryana governments in August 2022.
  • Chlorpyrifos is approved for 18 crops in India, while it was being used for 23 crops,” claimed Pesticide Action Network.
Stockholm Convention
  • Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from POPs.
  • It is legally binding and ratified by India (2006). In view of this ratification, India notified “Regulation of POP Rules” (2018) under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
  • Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (also called “forever chemicals”) are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes.
  • India ratified the Stockholm Convention in 2006 as per Article 25(4), which enabled it to keep itself in a default "opt-out" position such that amendments in various Annexes of the convention cannot be enforced on it unless an instrument of ratification/ acceptance/ approval or accession is explicitly deposited with UN depositary.
Similar conventions 
  • Basel Convention on the control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989)
  • Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (1998)
Source- DTE 

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