June 24, 2005
The Council of Ministers for Global Environment Conservation endorsed the national implementation plan for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Convention) on June 24. Hereafter, ministries concerned will take co-ordinated actions including emission reduction, appropriate treatment, environmental monitoring, international cooperation for POPs in compliance with this national implementation plan.
Japan concluded the POPs Convention on August 30, 2002. According to Article 7 of the Convention, each Party shall transmit its national implementation plan to fulfill obligations under the Convention to Conference of the Parties within two years from the date the Convention enters into force for it (as for Japan, May 17, 2004 when the Convention entered into force for it) and to endeavor to implement it. Also, Article 5(a) of the Convention requires each Party to prepare an action plan for releases from unintentional production such as in the case of dioxins. This action plan shall be carried out as a part of the national implementation plan.
The preparatory work for formulating this implementation plan was conducted by the Inter-Ministerial General-Director Level Meeting on the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, consisting of the Ministry of the Environment, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science & Technology, Ministry of Health, Welfare & Labor, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, and Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry. The Inter-Ministerial Meeting publicized the draft of the implementation plan on May 27, 2005. The public opinion on the draft was invited for two weeks and the draft was finalized taking into consideration the opinions submitted. The draft plan was submitted to and endorsed by the Council of Ministers for Global Environment Conservation today. Japan will submit the national implementation plan to the Conference of the Parties.
The National Implementation Plan covers the following measures for POPs.
| - | Measures to reduce release form intentional production and use. |
| - | Measures to reduce release form unintentional production. |
| - | Measures to reduce release from stockpiles and wastes. |
| - | Policy measures that form the basis for the above measures (environmental monitoring, international cooperation, information provision, promotion of research and technology development, etc.) |