Tenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC.10)
Rome, Italy, from 27 to 30 October 2014 The tenth meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee was held from 27 to 30 October 2014 in Rome back to back with the tenth meeting of the Chemical Review Committee of the Rotterdam Convention. The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee adopted a risk management evaluation on pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters and recommended listing of those chemicals in Annex A with specific exemptions for the production and use of pentachlorophenol for utility poles and cross-arms. The Committee also adopted a risk profile on decabromodiphenyl ether (commercial mixture, c-decaBDE) and established an intersessional working group to prepare a draft risk management evaluation. With regard to dicofol, the Committee was satisfied that the screening criteria have been fulfilled and established an intersessional working group to prepare a draft risk profile on dicofol. In addition, the Committee commenced the work of the intersessional working group on short-chained chlorinated paraffins to prepare a revised draft risk profile on those chemicals. Furthermore, as requested by the Conference of the Parties in decision SC-6/4, the Committee completed the assessment of alternatives to perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF) and reviewed the draft report of the Secretariat for the evaluation of information on those chemicals. The Committee also provided comments on the draft guidance to assist parties to the Rotterdam Convention and the Chemical Review Committee in their work when a chemical under consideration is a persistent organic pollutant listed under the Stockholm Convention and requested the joint intersessional working group established at the first joint meeting of the Chemical Review Committee and the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee held in October 2013 to finalize and submit it to the Conference of the Parties.