POPs Legal Situation SRI LANKA

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POPs Legal Situation- SRI LANKA

• Mangala Wijesinghe
• Chandi Pathirana

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The Stockholm Convention

• International Legally Binding Instrument for
  Implementing International Action on certain
  Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) May 22-23,
  2001, in Stockholm
• Came into force May 17, 2004
• Article 14 of the Convention designates the
  Global Environment Facility (GEF) as the
  principal entity entrusted with the operations
  of the financial mechanism.

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Why the need for a convention?

• Growing awareness about the threats posed to
  human health and the global environment by
  synthesized chemicals.
• Evidence of damage to human health and the
  environment has focused the attention on a
  category of substances referred to as Persistent
  Organic Pollutants (POPs).
• Include pesticides, industrial chemicals,
  unwanted by-products of industrial processes or
  combustion.
• Characterized by
• persistence the ability to resist degradation
  in various media (air, water, sediments, and
  organisms) for months and even decades
• bio-accumulation - the ability to accumulate in
  living tissues at levels higher than those in the
  surrounding environment
• and potential for long range transport the
  potential to travel great distances from the
  source of release through various media (air,
  water, and migratory species).

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Effects of POPs

• Cancer, allergies and hypersensitivity, damage to
  the central and peripheral nervous systems,
  reproductive disorders, and disruption of the
  immune system.
• Some are also endocrine disrupters by altering
  the hormonal system, they damage the reproductive
  and immune systems of exposed individuals.
• POPs concentrate in living organisms through
  bio-accumulation. Though not soluble in water,
  POPs are readily absorbed in fatty tissue, where
  concentrations can become magnified by up to
  70,000 times the background levels. Fish,
  predatory birds, mammals, and humans are high up
  the food chain and absorb the greatest
  concentrations.

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Annex A 12 compounds

• Pesticidesaldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin,
  endrin, heptachlor,
• hexachlorobenzene (also an industrial chemical
  and unintended byproduct), mirex and toxaphene
• Industrial chemicals PCBs (also unintended
  by-products) and
• Unintended by-products dioxins and furans.

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Parties are obligated to

• Eliminate production and use of POPs listed in
  Annex A (limited exceptions for PCBs)
• Restrict to certain acceptable purposes the
  production and use of POPs listed in Annex B-DDT
  for disease vector control-with certain other
  limited exemptions
• Restrict export of POPs listed in Annex A and B
• Ensure that PCBs are managed in an
  environmentally sound manner and by the year 2025
  remove from use PCBs found above certain
  thresholds
• Ensure, where countries have registered to do so,
  that use of DDT is restricted to vector control
  use according to WHO guidance and report on
  amounts of the chemical used
• Develop and implement an action plan to identify
  sources and reduce releases of POPs byproducts
  listed in Annex C, including the development and
  maintenance of source inventories and release
  estimates, and promote measures
• Develop strategies to identify stockpiles of POPs
  listed in Annexes A and B, and products
  containing POPs listed in Annexes A, B and C, and
  take measures to ensure that POPs wastes are
  managed and disposed of in an environmentally
  sound manner. according to international
  standards and guidelines, and identify POPs
  contaminated sites for possible remediation.

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Actions Mandated by the Convention

• Inventories sources and emissions of POPs-Annexes
  A and B.
• Action Plan for the reduction of releases of
  unintentional by-products
• Action Plan to control the use of DDT for disease
  vector control
• Rreport every five years on progress in phasing
  out PCBs (Annex I
• Assess stockpiles of POPs and of waste products
  contaminated with POPs identify management
  options, including disposal
• build capacity to report on production, import
  and export-Article 15
• build capacity to assess the need for specific
  exemptions and preparation of their
  reporting/extension
• build capacity to identify sites contaminated by
  POPs and
• support communication, information exchange, and
  awareness raising through multi-stakeholder
  participatory processes

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• LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK
• 1. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
• Chapter VI
• Directive Principles of State Policy and
  Fundamental Duties
• i. Article 27(14)
• The State shall protect, preserve and improve
  the environment for the benefit of the
  community
• ii. Article 28(f)
• To protect nature and conserve its riches

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• 2. STATUTORY PROVISIONS
• i. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ACT
• No. 47 of 1980 (Amended by Act No.56 of 1988
  and Act
  No. 53 of 2000)
• Part IV B-Environmental Quality-
• 23 H. Pollution of inland waters of Sri Lanka
• 23 M. Restriction, regulation and control of
  pollution of the soil
• ii. CONTROL OF PESTICIDE ACT,
• No. 33 OF 1980 (Amended by Act No. 06 OF
  1994)
• Provisions of the Act concern
• Registrar of Pesticides and a Pesticide Technical
  and Advisory
• Committee Registration of a pesticide, Approved
  pesticides,

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• CONTROL OF PESTICIDE ACT
• No. 33 OF 1980 (Amended by Act No. 06 OF 1994)
• Section 6 8 Registration of
  pesticides/licensing procedure
• Section 9 Approved pesticides
• Section 10 Approved containers or package
• Section 11 Cancellation of License
• Section 12 Alternation in package or
  Composition
• Section 13 Appeals
• Section 14 Prohibition of storage, transport
  and sale
• Section 15 Adulterated decompose or
  deteriorated pesticides
• Section 16 Storage, transport and sale of
  pesticides in close juxtaposition with food
  stuffs

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• Section 17 Prohibitions of import of
  pesticides
• Section 18 Advertisement of pesticides
• Section 19 Storage pesticide in bulk
• Section 20 Harvesting crops
• Section 21 Authorized officers, their powers
  and functions
• Section 22 Analysis of samples
• Section 23 Fees
• Section 24 Penalty for contravention of this
  Act
• Section 25 Forfeiture
• Section 26 Regulations
• REGULATIONS UNDER CONTROL OF PESTICIDE ACT, No.
  33 OF 1980
• Regulations (published 2 May 1985) provide for
  the appropriate labelling of pesticides.
• Regulations (published 29 may 2001) provide for
  the cancellation of selected harm full pesticide
  active ingredients and pesticides