The Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention reviews progress towards elimination of PCBs (paragraph (h) of Part II of Annex A to the Convention), every four years at its ordinary meetings, taking into account the information provided in the national reports submitted by Parties pursuant to Article 15 of the Convention.
At its ninth meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted decision SC-9/3, by which it took note of the report on progress towards the elimination of PCB (UNEP/POPS/COP.9/INF/10) and the recommendations of the small intersessional working group (UNEP/POPS/COP.9/6/Add.1), and:
- Urged Parties to step up their efforts, inter alia, by urgently implementing actions to eliminate the use of PCB in equipment by 2025 and to achieve the environmentally sound management as waste of liquids containing PCB and equipment contaminated with PCB having a content above 0.005% by 2028;
- Encouraged Parties to endeavour to identify, as soon as possible, open applications such as cable sheaths, cured caulk and painted objects containing more than 0.005% PCB and to manage them in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Convention.
The Conference of the Parties decided to undertake, at its eleventh meeting, a review of progress towards the elimination of PCB in accordance with paragraph (h) of part II of Annex A to the Convention and urged Partied to provide information on progress in eliminating PCB in their fifth national reports, to be submitted pursuant to Article 15 of the Convention by 31 August 2022, in accordance with paragraph (g) of part II of Annex A to the Convention.
Nomination of experts for the small intersessional working group and lead country
At its ninth meeting, the Conference of the Parties re-established the small intersessional working group on PCB to assist the Secretariat in preparing, for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its eleventh meeting:
- A report on progress towards the elimination of PCB;
- Guidance on a standardized approach to developing inventories of PCB and to analysis for the identification and quantification of PCB;
- A draft strategy for Parties to meet the 2025 and 2028 goals of the Stockholm Convention.
In response to the invitation by the Conference of the Parties in decision SC-9/3, the Government of Colombia indicated its interest in serving as lead country in the preparation of the above-mentioned report. The list of experts nominated by Parties and observers to participate in the small intersessional working group is available here: List of PCB SIWG members.
Work undertaken by the small intersessional working group
At its tenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties, in its decision SC-10/7, expressed its appreciation to the lead country, Colombia, and to the small intersessional working group on PCB for their work and requested the small intersessional working group and the Secretariat to continue to undertake the activities referred to in decision SC-9/3.
Thanks to the generous financial support provided by the European Union and the Governments of France, Germany and Norway, the small intersessional working group on PCB, through online meetings held on 8 July 2020, 21 October 2020, 22 April 2021, 30 November 2021 and 6 May 2022, and a face-to-face meeting, held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 5 to 8 December 2022, assisted the Secretariat in preparing the documents requested in paragraphs 6 and 9 of decision SC-9/3 and paragraph 8 of decision SC-10/7:
- A report on progress towards the elimination of PCB (UNEP/POPS/COP.11/INF/11);
- Guidance for development of PCB inventories and analysis of PCB (UNEP/POPS/COP.11/INF/12);
- A draft strategy for Parties to meet the 2025 and 2028 goals of the Stockholm Convention (UNEP/POPS/COP.11/INF/13).
The recommendations contained in the report on progress towards the elimination of PCB will be considered by the Conference of the Parties at its eleventh meeting scheduled to take place from 1 to 12 May 2023.