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Speaking at the 16th Chemical Regulations Annual Conference (CRAC) held on September 5, 2024, Mr. Xuezhi Xiao, Deputy Chief Scientist from the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), shared major progress in China's compliance with the POPs Convention.
On May 23, 2001, China officially became a signatory of the Stockholm Covention and ratified it on June 25, 2004. The POPs Convention entered into force for China on November 11, 2004.
China has actively participated in the Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the Stockholm Convention, the meetings of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee as well as the expert group meeting. The nation has also conducted compliance effectiveness evaluation, developed inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms to support the global environmental governance and coordination mechanisms.
Strengthen top-level design for national compliance
According to Mr. Xiao, China has formulated national implementation plans, incorporated POPs control requirements into domestic laws and regulations on environmental management, and drafted and revised more than 200 standards and guidelines. Existing national laws, regulations and regulated lists include but not limited to:
Product Quality Law
Measures for Cleaner Production Review (Order No. 38 of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Environmental Protection)
Directory of National Hazardous Wastes (2021)
...
Synergize compliance efforts with the new pollutants control
The effective control and eventually phase-out of new pollutants, which include POPs is also a key endeavour China has committed in. The country has achieved significant milestones, having completely eliminated the manufacturing, processing, use, import, and export of 29 POPs, including 8 (highlighted) in the List of New Pollutants for Priority Management (2023). (See more on CL's previous report) . These 29 POPs are:
| 15. Hexabromobiphenyl 16. Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether 17. Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether 18. Lindane 19. Endosulfan 20. Hexabromocyclododecan 21. Polychlorinated naphthalenes 22. PFOS, its salts and PFOSF 23. DecaBDE 24. SCCPs 25. Hexachlorobutadiene 26. PCP and its salts and esters 27. Dicofol 28. PFHxS, its salts and related compounds 29. Dechlorane Plus and its cis and trans isomers |
Mr. Xiao also congratulated on the China's efforts in reducing POPs emission in key industries. The nation has incorporated dioxins into the pollutant emission standards for 14 industries and has established a system for managing emission permits. Since the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, the intensity of dioxin emissions from key industries—such as waste incineration, iron ore sintering, and the production of recycled non-ferrous metals—has decreased by over 40%.
On May 17, 2024, MEE organized a meeting in Beijing to exchange experiences on compliance with the POPs Convention. The meeting released a publication named the Control of Persistent Organic Pollutants in China (2004-2024), which comprehensively introduced China’s concepts, practices and achievements in the POPs control over the past 20 years of compliance, and shared China's POPs control experience with the international community.
As one of the original drafters and signatories of the POPs Convention, China has resolutely fought against POPs pollution for 20 years. China has effectively promoted POPs control actions, significantly reduced environmental emissions of POPs, and contributed China's strength to global environmental governance and sustainable development.
