7 International control of persistent
organic pollutants
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12095/04
COM(04) 537
| Draft Council Decision concerning proposals, on behalf of the European Community and the Member States, for amendments to Annexes I-III of the 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants and to Annexes A to C of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
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| Legal base | Articles 175(1) and 300(2) EC; consultation; QMV
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| Department | Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 11 November 2004
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 42-xxxii (2003-04), para 7 (13 October 2004)
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Legally important
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| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information awaited
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Background
7.1 Two main measures apply internationally to persistent organic
pollutants —
the 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long Range Transboundary
Air Pollution,[11] and
the Stockholm Convention.[12]
Although the Community has ratified the 1998 Protocol, a proposal
that it should become a party to the Stockholm Convention has
not yet been adopted. However, the Commission says that, since
the Council has reached agreement on this, it is assuming that
the Community will become a party to the Convention by the end
of 2004.
7.2 It therefore put forward in August 2004 this
document, inviting the Council to approve a Decision which would
propose the addition of a number of persistent organic pollutants
to one or other of these instruments. More particularly, it has
suggested that:
- the 1998 Protocol should in
future be extended to include hexachlorobutadiene, octabromodiphenyl
ether, pentachlorobenzene, polychlorinated napthalenes, and short-chained
chlorinated paraffins; and
- the Stockholm Convention should, in addition
to these products, be extended to include as well pentabromodiphenyl
ether, chlordecone, hexabromobuiphenyl and hexachlorocyclo hexane.
The Commission also says that, in order to ensure
the proposals for listing additional substances are justified
and have significant support within the Community, only joint
proposals should be submitted by the Community and Member States.
7.3 In our Report of 13 October 2004, we noted that
the Minister of State (Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality)
at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr
Alun Michael) had said that previous risk assessments had shown
that these chemicals exhibit characteristics of persistent organic
pollutants, and that their production, marketing and use has already
ceased or been severely restricted within the Community. The
UK therefore supported this initiative. However, it was not convinced
that it was appropriate for the Commission make a proposal under
Article 300(2), and, together with other Member States, it was
currently investigating alternative ways in which the Community
could work towards the substantive objective. The Minister also
said that, because of the Government's reservations about the
proposed procedure, it has not completed a Regulatory Impact Assessment
at this stage, but that such an Assessment would be carried out
if proposals to add the new chemicals to the annexes of the Protocol
and Convention were to be made by the UK or any other party.
7.4 In noting these reservations about the proposal's
legal basis, we suggested that it would be sensible to await further
information on the discussions with the other Member States.
In the meantime, we said that we inferred from the Government's
support for the substance of the proposal that, notwithstanding
the absence of a Regulatory Impact Assessment, the benefits of
including these further chemicals within the relevant annexes
would outweigh the costs. However, we asked for confirmation
of this.
Minister's letter of 11 November 2004
7.5 The Minister has addressed these concerns in
his letter of 11 November 2004. On the first point, he says that,
at a recent working party meeting, no Member State supported the
Commission's proposal, and that a number joined the UK in opposing
the legal base chosen. A further meeting has been scheduled to
discuss this matter in greater detail, and the Minister says that
he will write again when this has taken place. In the meantime,
the UK will continue to engage with colleagues in other Member
States on an informal basis.
7.6 As regards the costs and benefits of the proposal,
he says that, with the exception of hexachlorobutadiene, pentachlorobenzene
and polychlorinated napthalenes, the substances listed have already
been subject to bans or severe restrictions, and that their inclusion
in this proposal should not lead to further costs. He adds that
the three substances in question are not intentionally produced
or used in the UK, that the first two are subject to controls
as priority hazardous substances under the Water Framework Directive
(2000/60/EC), and that, although hexachlorobutadiene and polychlorinated
napthalenes may occur as an unintentional by-product of activities
such as waste incineration, emission levels have been substantially
reduced in recent years. The Minister also says that the extent
of any future restriction on the substances listed in the proposal
will be subject to consideration by technical committees, and
that further work is being undertaken to determine the costs of
taking action beyond existing Community legislation.
Conclusion
7.7 We are grateful to the Minister for this further
information, and we are content to note the position on the likely
costs and benefits of the substances listed in the two annexes.
However, we also note that further discussions are being held
on the legal base, and we will therefore continue to hold the
document under scrutiny pending further information on this aspect.
11 This aims to control, reduce or eliminate discharges,
emissions and losses of those persistent organic pollutants which
cause significant adverse effects to human health or the environment
as a result of their long-range transfer through the atmosphere. Back
12
This provides a framework, based on the precautionary principle,
for eliminating the production, use, import and export of an initial
twelve such priority pollutants, for their safe handling and disposal,
and for the elimination or reduction of releases of certain unintentional
persistent organic pollutants. Back
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