The specific exemptions under the Stockholm Convention may expire or be withdrawn.
The registration of specific exemptions listed in Annex A and B expire five (5) years after the date of entry into force of the Convention with respect to a particular chemical, unless:
- An earlier date is indicated in the Register by the Party; or
- An extension is granted by the Conference of the Parties following the procedure set out in paragraph 7 of Article 4 and decision SC-3/3 (the review process in decision SC-3/3 was only until COP-4 but it was extended by decision SC-4/3 and now is open-ended as amended in paragraph 1 of decision SC-7/1).
Withdrawal from the Register
A Party may, at any time, withdraw an entry from the Register for a specific exemption upon written notification to the Secretariat. There is no specific format required to withdraw registration of a specific exemption however this communication should also come through the official channel of communication.
Expiry and extension of specific exemptions
A Party may assess that it continues to need a specific exemption for a period longer than the initial five year exemption period available under Article 4. A procedure has been established for reviewing entries in the Register of Specific Exemptions, which covers requests for extension of exemptions (decision SC-3/3, as amended by decisions SC-4/4 and SC-7/1).
The Party would need to submit a request for an extension of an exemption at least 12 months before the last meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) that takes place before the expiry date of the exemption. For example, requests for extensions of registrations of specific exemptions that expired in August 2015 needed to be transmitted to the Secretariat at least by May 2014 as the last COP meeting before August 2015 was held in May 2015.
Information is circulated to and requested from Parties and observers before the COP meeting. The Secretariat then reviews all available information and prepares a report to the COP.
The COP decides on the request for an extension of an entry in the Register prior to the expiry date of the exemption.
When there are no longer any Parties registered for a particular type of specific exemption, no new registrations may be made with respect to it, as stated on paragraph 9 of Article 4. For example, in accordance with SC-7/1 there are no longer any parties registered for specific exemptions for the production and use of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride for carpets, leather and apparel, textiles and upholstery, paper and packaging, coatings and coating additives and rubber and plastics, no new registrations may be made with respect to them.
An indicative table of when each amendment to the Annexes to the Convention entered into force for Parties is available here.
Amendments to the Annexes enter into force for all Parties on expiry of one year from the date the depositary communicated the adoption of the amendments, except for:
- Parties that had submitted a notification of non-acceptance in accordance with paragraph 3 (b) of Article 22 (also known as opt-out Parties); or
- Parties that had made a declaration in accordance with paragraph 4 of Article 25 and have not deposited an instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with respect to these amendments (also known as opt-in Parties).