The “11.11” Anniversary Day of the Stockholm Convention’s Entry into Force for China and the 2018 Technical Coordination Group Meeting on Stockholm Convention Implementation in China was held by Foreign Economic Cooperation Office (FECO), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on November 12, 2018. Responsible comrades from the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals of MEE, FECO, the Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Ecology and Environment Department of Hunan Province, representatives from international organizations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank (WB), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) attended the meeting and delivered speeches.
Related responsible comrade from the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals of MEE emphasized in the speech that the Chinese government has been attaching great attention to the environmental management of chemicals and the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals has been newly set up by the MEE. Over the past 17 years since the signing of the Convention, China has been strictly implementing it by fulfilling the target of eliminating POPs and performing the task of reducing emissions according to the requirements of the Stockholm Convention, taking zero tolerance to such actions as producing and using persistent organic pollutants violating related laws and regulations. Every case found has been dealt with seriously in order to resolutely crack down the above-mentioned actions according to law.
Related responsible comrade from FECO, in his speech, reviewed the progress of convention implementation in China over the past year and concluded the achievements in international negotiations, the response to listing new POPs, top-level design, the innovation on management, pushing forward project implementation, and speeding up results demonstration.
Representatives from international organizations introduced the progress and achievements of the projects in collaboration with China for convention implementation, recognized the great efforts and contributions China made during convention implementation, with the hope to carry out further and more extensive cooperation with China in the future and play a more proactive role in international convention implementation affairs.
There were more than 110 attendees on the meeting, including representatives from international organizations such as UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, and WB, international experts from Germany, Denmark, and Italy, representatives from member units of the National Coordination Group for Stockholm Convention Implementation, related departments of MEE, environmental protection bureaus of some provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, and representatives from scientific research institutes, industry associations, and enterprises.
