2. Background

Under Article 5 of the Stockholm Convention, Parties are required to take certain measures, as summarized in Figure 2-1 below, to reduce total releases of by-product emissions of Annex C chemicals from anthropogenic sources "with the goal of their continuing minimization and, where feasible, ultimate elimination".

• Develop Action Plan with implementation schedule, 2 years after entry into force for Party
• Inventory current and projected releases.
• Evaluate laws and policies.
• Develop and promote strategies and review every 5 years.
• Require BAT** for new sources identified in plan and Part II Annex C 4 years after entry into force for Party
• Promote BAT for existing sources Part II and Part III, Annex C, and for new sources Part III, Annex C.
• Promote BEP*** for new and existing sources Part II and Part III, Annex C.

** Best Available Techniques (BAT): most effective and advanced activities to limit, prevent or reduce releases (process description, available techniques, and achievable release levels).
*** Best Environmental Practices (BEP): environmental control measures and strategies.

• Incinerators (municipal, hazardous, medical, sewage sludge)
• Cement kilns - Hazardous wastes
• Pulp production using elemental chlorines
• Thermal metallurgical process (iron sintering, secondary copper, aluminium and zinc

• Open burning of waste, residential burning
• Wood, other biomass firing
• Fossil fuelled utility, industrial boilers
• "other" thermal metallurgical process (secondary lead, secondary steel, primary aluminium, primary base metals (i.e. copper, lead, nickel,zinc), magnesium)
• Smouldering copper cables
• Specific chemical processes (chlorophenols, chloranil), textile and leather dyeing and finishing
• Cremaatoria, destruction animal carcasses
• Motor vehicules, waste oil refineries, vehicle shredder plants

Under Article 5 (a), the Convention provides further guidance on the content of an action plan:

1. An evaluation of current and projected releases, including the development and maintenance of source inventories and release estimates, taking into consideration the source categories identified in Annex C;
2. An evaluation of the efficacy of the laws and policies of the Party relating to the management of such releases;
3. Strategies to meet the obligations of this paragraph [measures to reduce or eliminate releases from unintentional production], taking into consideration the evaluations in (i) and (ii);
4. Steps to promote education and training with regard to, and awareness of, those strategies;
5. A review every five years of the strategies and of their success in meeting the obligations of this paragraph [measures to reduce or eliminate releases from unintentional production]; such reviews shall be included in reports submitted pursuant to Article 15; and
6. A schedule for implementation of the action plan, including for the strategies and measures identified therein.

Annex C of the Stockholm Convention lists 17 sectors or categories that are identified as sources of the four unintentionally produced POPs. These have been listed below for reference.