COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2025/868

of 23 April 2025

on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants as regards the requests for extension of specific exemptions and the proposals for amendment of Annex A to that Convention

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 192(1), in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

(1) The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (1) (the ‘Convention’) entered into force on 17 May 2004 and was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision 2006/507/EC (2).

(2) Pursuant to Article 8 of the Convention, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (the ‘Conference of the Parties’) is empowered to list chemicals in Annexes A, B and/or C to the Convention and specify control measures related to such chemicals.

(3) At its twelfth meeting, the Conference of the Parties is expected to adopt decisions to list further chemicals in Annex A to the Convention.

(4) In order to protect human health and the environment from further releases of chlorinated paraffins with carbon chain lengths in the range C14–17 and chlorination levels at or exceeding 45 per cent chlorine by weight, chlorpyrifos and long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids, their salts and related compounds, it is necessary to reduce or eliminate the production and use of those chemicals at global level and to support their listing in the relevant annexes to the Convention.

(5) Since the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) identified the need for certain specific exemptions for all three chemicals to allow for some time to phase-out their use, including by identifying alternatives, certain time-limited specific exemptions should be granted, some of which are needed by the Union.

(6) The scope of the specific exemptions for chlorinated paraffins with carbon chain lengths in the range C14–17 and chlorination levels at or exceeding 45 per cent chlorine by weight recommended by the POPRC does not cover all uses that are needed by the Union before completing the transition to alternatives and, therefore, the Union should request the addition of specific exemptions for use in certain defence and aerospace applications, such as coatings, lubricants, and ammunition and its packaging, and, where needed, longer time limits to allow for the identification of alternatives and substitution in those highly regulated sectors.

(7) In order to allow for a reasonable time to identify alternatives and to use certain spare parts in the aviation sector, it may be necessary to allow the continued use of UV-328 in civilian and military aircraft including in relevant spare parts. The Union should therefore support the proposal from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to add the respective specific exemption from the entry on UV-328 in Annex A to the Convention, which should be as short as possible to ensure the swift phase-out of the use of UV-328.

(8) The Republic of Korea informed the Parties (3) that following the prohibition on the manufacturing, import, and placing on the market of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride for use in fire-fighting foams in Korea, it still possesses stockpiles of those foams and that it may need more time to manage those stockpiles in an environmentally-sound manner. Those stockpiles may be used during that period at petrochemical plants, airports, or other sites, when large fire occurs and available alternatives are not effective enough. In order to allow the Republic of Korea more time to phase-in alternatives and considering that the request from the Republic of Korea to extend the expiry date of those specific exemptions, which will only apply to the Republic of Korea as the requesting Party, complies with the review process adopted in decision SC 4/3 and SC 7/1, the Union should support that request.

(9) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as the decisions will be binding on the Union or capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, namely Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4),

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (the ‘Conference of the Parties’), taking due account of the relevant recommendations of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC), shall be the following:

(a) to support the listing of chlorinated paraffins with carbon chain lengths in the range C14-17 and chlorination levels at or exceeding 45 per cent chlorine by weight in Annex A, with the specific exemptions recommended by the POPRC (5), and to request additional specific exemptions for use in certain defence and aerospace applications, such as coatings, lubricants, and ammunition and its packaging, and extended expiry dates for some exemptions for aerospace and defence applications until 2041, with a possible extension of this expiry date until the end of life of equipment and spare parts if those substances are used in such applications;

(b) to support the listing of chlorpyrifos in Annex A, with the specific exemptions recommended by the POPRC (6);

(c) to support the listing of long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids, their salts and related compounds in Annex A, with the specific exemptions recommended by the POPRC (7).

Article 2

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties shall be to support the proposal submitted by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to amend Annex A to the Convention by adding a specific exemption for certain limited uses of UV-328 in civilian and military aircraft including in relevant spare parts, provided that the exemption applies for as short a period as possible and does not exceed five years.

Article 3

The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties shall be to accept the request submitted by the Republic of Korea to extend the expiry date of the specific exemptions, which will only apply to the Republic of Korea as requesting Party, for the use of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride in fire-fighting foam for liquid fuel vapor suppression and liquid fuel fires (Class B fires) in installed systems, including both mobile and fixed systems.

Article 4

Refinements of the positions referred to in Articles 1, 2, and 3, in light of the developments at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties may be agreed upon by representatives of the Union, in consultation with the Member States, during on-the-spot coordination meetings without a further decision of the Council.

Article 5

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels, 23 April 2025.

For the Council

The President

A. SZŁAPKA

(1)

OJ L 209, 31.7.2006, p. 3

, ELI:

http://data.europa.eu/eli/convention/2006/507/oj

(2) Council Decision 2006/507/EC of 14 October 2004 concerning the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (

OJ L 209, 31.7.2006, p. 1

, ELI:

http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2006/507/oj

(3) SC/COMM/01.2025/2.

(4) Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on persistent organic pollutants (

OJ L 169, 25.6.2019, p. 45

, ELI:

http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2019/1021/oj

(5) POPRC-20/2.

(6) POPRC-20/1.

(7) POPRC-20/3.

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/868/oj

ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)