Jordan’s update of the National Implementation Plan under the Stockholm Convention referring to the COP5 decision including technical endosulfan and its related isomers

1 The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan’s update of the National Implementation Plan under the Stockholm Convention referring to the COP5 decision including technical endosulfan and its related isomers. Status 25 September 2017 2 3 Table of Content Executive Summary 1. Policy statement 2. Scope of the update according to COP5 Decision 3. Legal framework 4. Assessment of technical endosulfan and its related isomers 5. Conclusion Executive summary In 2011 in Geneva, the Conference of the Parties COP 5 adopted an amendment to list technical endosulfan and its related isomers to Annex A of the Stockholm Convention. The Government of Jordan is committed to the Stockholm Convention and its obligations. As an active member of the international community, Jordan chairs the Stockholm Convention from 2017 (COP 8) to 2019 (COP 9). Endosulfan is banned in Jordan, the decision was taken by the pesticides registration committee in 1993. The final import decision was published in 2003. An inventory of persistent organic pesticides was established in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture. The inventory included all sectors dealing with pesticides in private and governmental sectors, such as importing companies, manufacturers and all directorates of agriculture, which have warehouses for the storage of pesticides. All importing and manufacturing companies in Jordan replied that they do not have expired pesticides according to the checklist of the official letter sent to them by the Ministry of Agriculture in2014. Agriculture directories from all regions of Jordan provided information that some districts have expired pesticides, but not from the list of persistent organic pollutants. At present, there is no manufacturing, formulation, import, placing on the market and legal use of Endosulfan in Jordan. Considering that Endosulfan was banned in 2003 and that no Endosulfan was found in stores, the national policy is in line with Stockholm Convention provisions related to Endosulfan. 4 1. Policy statement Jordan signed the Stockholm Convention on 18 January 2002 and ratified it on 08 November 2004. The Convention entered into force on 06 February 2005. The Stockholm Convention Secretariat received the National Implementation Plan of Jordan on 26 December 2006. Jordan is one of the leading countries that has taken care of the environment since 1970s. The remarkable step was the establishment of the Department of Environment in 1980. Jordan always insisted to adhere to the international community and United Nations requirements and instruments concerning all issues, especially for environmental protection. The National Environment Strategy defines the environmental policy of Jordan. It is considered as an important National document and source book. The Government of Jordan is committed to the Stockholm Convention and its obligations. As an active member of the international community, Jordan will also undertake essential measures for protecting the global environment from negative impacts of dissemination of POPs compounds throughout the world. Jordan chairs the Stockholm Convention from May 2017 (COP 8) to May 2019 (COP 9), Mr. Mohammed Oglah Hussein Khashashneh serves as the President of the Bureau of the Stockholm Convention. Jordan is also committed to the other Multilateral Environmental Agreements such as the Minamata Convention. The intergovernmental negotiating committee on mercury met on its 7th session INC7 in March 2016 at the Dead Sea in Jordan, which facilitated the rapid entry into force of the Convention and its effective implementation. 2. Scope of the update according to COP5 Decision At its fifth meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 25 to 29 April 2011, the Conference of the Parties adopted an amendment to Annex A to the Stockholm Convention on POPs, in decision SC-5/3, to list the following new Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP), technical endosulfan and its related isomers. The amendment was communicated by the depositary to all Parties on 27 October 2011 (Depositary notification reference: C.N.703.201.TREATIES-8). 5 3. Legal framework A legal basis for general rules and instructions on pesticides is set in laws and bylaws of 2002 and 2003. The concrete legal measures linked with endosulfan management and elimination are given in the Table 1 below: Table 1. Legal measures New POPs Pesticides Situation Date of Publication Endosulfan Banned, the decision was taken by the pesticides registration committee; date of entry into enforce of the final regulatory action is 1/1/1993. Final import decision was published on 12/12/2003. 4. Assessment of technical endosulfan and its related isomers 4.1. Short introduction At present, there are about 1668 imported and locally formulated pesticides referring to about 200 pesticides common names in Jordan. These are registered through the registration committee in the ministry of Agriculture. None of these pesticides belongs to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides. At present, there is no manufacturing, formulation, import and legal use for any chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in Jordan. Several national institutions are working on pesticides management within the overall chemical management context. The Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Labor, Customs Department and Civil Defense Directorate are the main governmental institutions concerned with chemicals management. Other agencies such as Chamber of Industry and Farmers Union have also a role in this regard. Jordanian experts conducted few studies on pesticide residues in soil, water, mothers’ milk animal products and foodstuff. 4.2. Inventory of pops pesticides including endosulfan Methodology The inventory of persistent organic pesticides was established in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture. The inventory included all sectors dealing with pesticides in private and governmental sectors, such as 1. Companies, which import pesticides; 2. Manufacturers of pesticides; 3. All directorates of agriculture, which have warehouses for the storage of pesticides. 6 Inventory Results 1. Table 2 below gives All importing and manufacturing companies in Jordan replied that they do not have expired pesticides according to the checklist of the official letter sent to them by the Ministry of Agriculture. 2. Agriculture directories from all regions of Jordan provided information that some districts have expired pesticides, but not from the list of persistent organic pesticides. information about new POPs pesticides. Table 2: Common name, trade name, pesticide group, CAS Number, mode of action, date of prohibition, reason of prohibition of the new POPs pesticides. Common Name Trade Name Pesticide Group CAS NO Mode of action Date of banning Reason of banning Endosulfan Dofan Endosol Afidan 5 Insecticide, Acaricide 115 29-7 Non-systemic insecticide and acaricide with contact and stomach action. Uses Control of sucking, chewing, and boring insects and mites on a very wide range of crops Date of entry to enforce of the final regulatory action 1/1/1993 Toxicity and persistence Current situation of stock piles of POPs pesticides The following Table 3 shows the new POPs pesticides and the actions taken by the Ministry of agriculture. Table 3: The new POPs pesticides and the actions taken by Ministry of Agriculture of Jordan. New POPs Pesticides Situation Date of Publication Inventory in 2014 Endosulfan Banned, the decision was taken by the pesticides registration committee; date of entry into enforce of the final regulatory action is 1/1/1993. Final decision was published on 12/12/2003. There is no quantity found in stores 7 4.3. Technical infrastructure and information capacityf Analytical capacity Jordan has the capacity to analyze POPs pesticides. The laboratories that analyze pesticides are present mainly at Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, at different universities, and RSS. Information management capacity The POPs Unit at the Ministry of Environment has initiated and developed different inventories and database related to POPs. During the implementation of the NIP and the development of the detailed inventories, this database will be made accessible to the public and international stakeholders. 4.4. Current level of information, awareness and education among target groups; existing systems to communicate such information to the various groups; mechanism for information exchange with other parties to the convention Pesticides The availability of information on pesticides in Jordan is good. There are different national sources of information on pesticides describing their quantities, import, handling, storage, use, risks, registration and banning. In fact, the Government of Jordan has banned many types of pesticides prior to the Stockholm Convention. Several national institutions are working on pesticides management within the overall chemical management context. The Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Labor, Customs Department, and Civil Defense Directorate are the main governmental institutions concerned with chemicals management. Other agencies such as Chamber of Industry and Farmers Union have also a role in this regard. Awareness and education among target groups Many Jordanians are of the opinion that using chemicals is not healthy. Many people attribute the occurrence of diseases (especially cancer) to the application of chemicals to food crops, such as fertilizers, pesticides, and chemicals with endocrine disrupting activity. They are not happy with eating pesticide treated products, but they do not recognize POPs in particular. The concept of green products (food free of chemicals) is encouraged by both the government and the local NGOs. This could be a useful background for carrying out targeted public awareness programs on POPs pesticides and other POPs chemicals. This would be also an opportunity to correct some extreme thoughts about the use of chemicals. Many of the environmentally concerned institutions have their own awareness activities. In most cases, these activities are coordinated with NGOs and the media. 5. Conclusion At present, there is no manufacturing, formulation, import , placing on the market and legal use of Endosulfan in Jordan. Considering the fact that Endosulfan was banned in 2003 and there is no evidence of any quantity found in stores, the national policy is in line with Stockholm Convention provisions related to Endosulfan.