Defra Consultation on policy options and potential amendments to annexes of the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulation
We would like to inform you of a new Defra consultation seeking stakeholders’ views on a number of government proposals and policy options relating to domestic management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Some of the presented options and potential amendments to the annexes of the retained POPs Regulation 2019/1021 (as amended by 2020/1358 and 2022/1293) are related to recent additions or amendments to the UN’s Stockholm Convention on POPs which the UK, as Party to the Convention, must implement at a national level. Other options are being considered following recent reviews of the POPs Regulation, in response to scientific or technical progress, and/or to generate further evidence to inform future policy positions and potential responses to upcoming and future amendments to the UN’s Stockholm Convention on POPs.
This consultation was launched on 2 March 2023 and closes on 27 April 2023.
Some proposals in this consultation indicate provisional positions that we would intend to implement unless compelling evidence is presented regarding unforeseen impacts and/or burdens, while other proposals represent opportunities to generate further evidence to inform future policy positions and determine their suitability to achieve UK priorities. Generation of this evidence will help reduce the risk of unintentionally introducing unforeseen future costs to UK business or government, and/or disruption to waste management.
We are committed to maintaining our environmental standards and none of the proposals set out in this consultation are intended to lower our existing standards with regard to the management of POPs. As a Party to the Stockholm Convention, the UK remains committed to restricting and/or eliminating these POPs globally.
The proposed options and potential amendments we are consulting on relate to:
- amending and/or addition of POPs waste concentration limits for several POPs
- removal of specific exemptions for several POPs
- addition of unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) exemption levels for at least two POPs
- amending and/or removal of UTC exemptions for a POP
- addition of a new toxic equivalency factor (TEF) for a POP
- amending maximum concentration limits (derogations for permanent waste storage) for several POPs
Respondents are invited to respond to any section relevant to them and are not required to respond to all sections within the consultation.
