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 that each Party
shall develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its
obligations under the Stockholm Convention, which needs to be transmitted to
the Conference of the Parties within two years of the date on which this
Convention enters into force for it. Article 7 also calls for a review and
update of the plan on a periodic basis and in a manner the Conference of the
Parties specify.
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.
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.
At its fourth meeting in 2009, the Conference of the
Parties (COP) to the Stockholm Convention adopted decisions to amend the
Convention by adding 9 new chemicals to its Annexes. These amendments entered
into force on 26 August 2010. Within two
years of this date, most Parties to the Convention have to transmit to the COP
NIPs that have been updated to address the obligations arising from the listing
of the new POPs.
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
(To submit your NIP to the Secretariat or to consult on this matter, please contact us by emailing to TAB@pops.int)