National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention.

The National Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention - Enabling Activities to Facilitate Early Action on the Implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) has as vision that by 2020, Lesotho will be free from all intentionally produced POPs and all unintentional emissions of POPs will be significantly reduced. The subsection on Activities and action plans in the document covers seventeen intervention areas; there are three major categories of Persistent Organic Pollutants identified for purposes of this document, namely Annex A Part 1 and Annex B POPs, Annex B Part II POPs (PCBs) an Unintentional POPs (UPOPs). The focuses on measures to minimize health impacts are inbuilt within these categories.
Under Annex A Part 1 and Annex B POPs the activities are aimed at developing and amend Legislation towards proper management of Pesticides, including setting up adequate institutional capacity. The main strategy focuses on Strengthening the Environment Act 2001 and assigns responsibilities appropriately The major role player in implementation of measures related to Annex A Part 1 chemicals shall lie with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (M the Department of Environment. Measures are: monitoring the use of Annex A POPs pesticides; developing and implementing strategies to identify stockpiles, products and articles in use and wastes containing Annex A POPs pesticides; managing stockpiles in a safe, efficient and environmentally safe manner until they are deemed to be waste; identification and classification of pesticides stockpiles and wastes using of Adapting international and regional guidelines and classification system; identify and clean up contaminated sites in an environmentally sound manner through regularly updating of inventories of contaminated sites and stockpiles development and implementation of clean-up programmes; assure that Lesotho has appropriate institutional capacity to allow the public adequate awareness of the POPs pesticides issues and POPs-related.
Measures regarding Annex B Part II POPs (PCBs) are focused on: building the capacity of institutions on PCBs management at different levels; develop and implement a comprehensive monitoring and maintenance programme; identification/screening and labeling of equipment containing different PCBs concentrations; Developing a phase out program for inefficient equipment; include PCBs in the list of banned chemicals in the amendments to the Environment Act, 2001 and hazardous chemicals law; reduce release of decommissioned transformers Centralizing the storage of decommissioned transformer; exporting PCB containing wastes for environmental safe disposal, etc.