Norwegian implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

This Norwegian implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (or NIP) describes how Norway meets its obligations under the Stockholm Convention focusing on newly listed POPs in 2017 and 2019 as well as PFOS, its salts and PFOS-F and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), for which updated or new information is available. The available information on all other POPs listed in the Stockholm Convention can be found in the Norwegian NIPs submitted in 2006, 2013 and 2017. The Norwegian implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (or POPs) was drawn up by the Norwegian Environment Agency, which is the government agency responsible for chemicals and pollution prevention. The plan has been approved by the Ministry of Climate and Environment. The main focus for this Norwegian implementation Plan (or NIP) is the POPs that were included in the Convention in 2017 (decaBDE, SCCPs) and in 2019 (dicofol and PFOA), as well as the changes in the listing for HCBD and PFOS that were adopted at the COPs in 2017 and 2019. The first Norwegian NIP was completed in 2006, two years after the entry into force of the agreement. It describes national measures for the first 12 POPs that were listed in the Convention. The NIP has been updated three times since then. Norway continues to work to stop and limit the use of newer POPs. Several of these substances are listed with specific exceptions for certain uses. Norwegian environmental legislation provides the necessary legal basis for Norway to fulfill the requirements of the Stockholm Convention. In Norway, the production and use of POPs is prohibited or strictly regulated.
Norway works actively both at the national level and in international fora to limit the production and use of chemicals that can cause harmful effects to human health and/or the environment. Due to the the persistency, bioaccumulation, toxicity and long-range environmental transport of POPs, work on the Stockholm Convention has high priority. Norway has so far nominated five substances for listing in the Convention as POPs. PentaBDE was nominated in 2005, HBCD in 2008 and deca-BDE in 2013. These substances were listed in 2009, 2013 and 2017, respectively. In 2017, Norway nominated PFHxS, its salts and related substances. The listing of PFHxS will be discussed at COP-10 in 2022, which has been postponed for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last substance, Dechlorane Plus, which is a chlorinated flame retardant, was nominated in 2019. The assessment on whether Dechloran Plus is a POP is still ongoing. As an EEA country, Norway fulfills its obligations under the Stockholm Convention by implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on persistent organic pollutants and its amendments (POPs Regulation) in Norwegian law. This regulation imposes bans or restrictions on the production, sale and use of POPs listed in the Stockholm Convention and the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. The POPs Regulation also contains provisions for managing stockpiles and POPs containing waste as well as requirements to reduce releases of unintentionally produced POPs that may be released to the environment during combustion or from some chemical processes.