Project for POPS reduction and elimination launched. (Newsdesk).

The State Environmental Protection Administration has recently held in Beijing a meeting for launching the project of reducing and eliminating organophosphorus insecticide POPS (permanent organic polluting substances) in collaboration with Italy. Experts and delegates from the State Economic and Trade Commission, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, China Chemical Industry Association and various research institutes attended the meeting. It shows that the first phase of the project for POPS reduction and elimination has started in China. The conference on the international action to cope with POPS held in Stockholm of Sweden in May this year adopted the Stockholm Convention of the International Action to Cope with POPS. More than 90 countries have signed the convention and China is one of them. The convention lists 12 POPS that should be controlled. 9 of them are pesticides, 1 of them is an industrial chemical and 2 of them are byproducts released in industrial production, garbage burni ng and organic chemicals disposal. 6 of the 9 pesticides listed in the convention are produced in China. The annual output of DDT is nearly 10 000 tons and the annual output of chlordan is several dozen tons in China. There is also small-scale production of polychlorinated biphenyl mainly used in power equipment. After the WTO entry, tariff barriers will be eliminated in China but "green barriers" will replace tariff barriers. Domestic pesticide producers should get prepared in advance even if it is only for the sake of economic interests. To get more support in capital and technology, quickly improve the control of POPS chemicals and raise the ability of reducing and eliminating insecticide POPS, a contract on strategies for reducing and eliminating insecticide POPS in China was signed with Italy on July 10. The capital provided by Italy will be mainly used in the survey to the production, consumption, substitution technology and management of insecticide POPS. On this basis, feasible strategies for reducing and eliminating insecticide POPS will be studied and formulated to ensure a smooth implementation of the convention and protect public health and environmental safety.