27 March 2013: The Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity-Building and the Transfer of Technology in Asia and the Pacific (SCRCAP) hosted a workshop on the “Sound Management of POPs in articles and phasing out opportunities in developing countries and emerging economies” project on 27 March 2013, in Beijing, China. Launched by the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions at the end of 2012, the project is being implemented by SCRCAP.

According to SCRCAP, the workshop was attended by 14 Chinese delegates from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Chinese Research Academy of Sciences, China Association of Fluorine and Silicone Material Industry, the Tsinghua University, the Peking University, China Flame Retardant Society, and a perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) production plant. The workshop introduced the project to key stakeholders, and discussed current management, production, and usage of PFOS in China. It also discussed alternatives of PFOS and to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).

The project is targeting the uses of BDEs and PFOS listed under the Convention in applications in China. Its overall objective is to reduce exposure to and risks emanating from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) through the identification and phasing-out of new POPs in products and articles. [Stockholm Convention Regional Centre Press Release] [Regional Centre Website]