Posted on December, 10 2000

Johannesburg, South Africa - WWF, the conservation organization, today welcomed the completion of a global treaty on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that will, for the first time in history, eliminate or severely restrict the use and production of a whole range of man-made chemicals that are directly toxic to humans.

The convention targets 12 POPs. It calls for the elimination of eight of them, while adopting severe restrictions on DDT, and creating a "roadmap" toward elimination of PCBs and the two unintentional byproducts, dioxins and furans.

"It's been 75 years since the chemical revolution began and we are kicking off the new millennium with a treaty that is a big step toward a less toxic future," said Clifton Curtis, Director of WWF's Global Toxic Chemicals Initiative. "The treaty provides a strong foundation for eliminating some of the world's most toxic chemicals."

While praising the conclusion of the almost three-year process, WWF noted that important challenges lie ahead on issues such as how best to provide finance to the developing world as it moves away from reliance on chemicals that damage human and wildlife health. For the time-being, negotiators agreed to use the Global Environment Facility as the "interim" mechanism to channel the funding, pending a further review of the matter once the treaty is in force and operational.

During the final hours of the talks, tension was high surrounding efforts to strike a deal for including the precautionary principle* as a guiding theme for the treaty. As part of the commitment to precaution, negotiators agreed that the principle would be included in the treaty objective statement, and also embedded in the section for adding new POPs to the convention.

"The formulations on precaution send a loud and clear message that the era of "regulate and reduce" will not be the paradigm for chemicals management in this new century," added Clifton Curtis. "Common commitment by the government negotiators to eliminate POPs helped sweep away the spectre of The Hague Climate Summit's fiasco that hung over this final session of negotiation."

The POPs Treaty will be signed in Stockholm on 22-23 May 2001. Ratification by at least 50 countries will be required before the treaty enters into force, a process likely to take 3-4 years.

For further information:

Olivier van Bogaert, Press Officer, WWF International, tel.: +41 76 338 05 10 (mobile)

Lee Poston, Press Officer, WWF-US, tel.: +27 82 3 700 365

NOTES TO EDITORS

The January 2000 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety reaffirmed several times the precautionary approach and the appropriateness of taking protective action where there is a "lack of scientific certainty due to insufficient relevant scientific information and knowledge regarding the extent of the potential adverse effects..."

POPs are chemicals that last for decades in the environment, and travel thousands of miles in the air and water. They are linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive and developmental problems in both humans and wildlife.

The twelve chemicals targeted under the POPs Treaty are hexachlorobenzene (listed in two forms: as a fungicide and as an industrial chemical), endrin, mirex, toxaphene, chlordane, heptachlor, DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, furans.