Overview
Parties to the Stockholm Convention are required to prepare a plan on how they are going to implement the obligations under the Convention and make efforts to put such plan into operation. The National Implementation Plan (NIP) is not a standalone plan for the management of POPs but is a part of a national sustainable development strategy of the Party preparing and implementing such plan. Also, the national implementation plan is a dynamic document as it is to be reviewed periodically and updated to address new obligations under the Convention.
When to develop or revise and update the NIP
Paragraph 1 of Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention states the following:
Each Party shall:
(a)Develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its obligations under this Convention;
(b)Transmit its implementation plan to the Conference of the Parties within two years of the date on which this Convention enters into force for it; and
(c)Review and update, as appropriate, its implementation plan on a periodic basis and in a manner to be specified by a decision of the Conference of the Parties.
To determine whether a Party has a need to review and update its national implementation plan, the Party concerned should assess whether it is affected by any external or internal factors, such as those referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the annex to decision SC-1/12:
External factors:
(a)Changes in obligations arising from amendments to the Convention or its annexes, including the addition of chemicals to Annexes A, B or C;
(b)Decisions of the Conference of the Parties that may affect how Parties implement Convention obligations, including adoption of guidance or guidelines;
(c)Changes in the availability of technical or financial assistance;
(d)Changes in access to infrastructure external to the Party (e.g., disposal facilities).
Internal factors:
(a)Reporting under Article 15 of the Convention indicating that the Party’s implementation plan is not adequate;
(b)A change in national priorities;
(c)A significant change in national circumstances (e.g., infrastructure or institutional arrangements);
(d)Inventories of persistent organic pollutants, after improvement or updating, indicating a change in the scope of the problem to be addressed.
According to paragraph 7 of the annex to decision SC-1/12, for those changes in the obligations arising from amendments to the Convention or its annexes, a Party will review and update its implementation plan, and transmit the updated plan to the Conference of the Parties within two years of the entry into force of the amendment for it, consistent with paragraph 1 (b) of the Convention.
The review and updating of the NIP can be challenging for Parties that lack adequate resources and technical capacity, especially for new POPs. Parties have expressed the need for assistance in particular in obtaining information on the presence of new POPs that are contained in articles or widely used for industrial purposes.
A number of guidance documents have been developed to assist Parties in the development of their NIPs. To download the guidances, please click here: Guidance
New set of guidances to review and update the NIPs are currently being developed. The guidance documents will be officially available in April 2012.