EU: Planned updated to the Persistent Organic Pollutants regulation

 

The EU Commission has published amendments to the Annex 1 of the Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 to include new substances: chlorpyrifos, medium-chain chlorinated paraffins and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids, their salts and related compounds.

Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 implements the European Union’s obligations under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (“the Convention”) and the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants (“the Protocol”). Annex A of the Convention lists specific chemicals, and each Party is required to prohibit these substances and/or adopt the legal and administrative measures necessary to eliminate their production, use, import, and export.

At its twelfth meeting, held from 28 April to 9 May 2025, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, acting under Article 8(9), decided to amend Annex A to include chlorpyrifos, subject to certain specified exemptions. The European Union supported this inclusion, as reflected in Council Decision (EU) 2025/8684.

Accordingly, Part A of Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021, which lists substances covered by both the Convention and the Protocol, as well as substances listed only under the Convention, should be updated to incorporate chlorpyrifos in line with the amendments to Annex A.

The same applies to the other substances, medium-chain chlorinated paraffins and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids.

To find out more about chemical compliance and the Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulation, do not hesitate to contact the Product Compliance Institute.