Zambia became a signatory to the Stockholm Convention (SC) in May 2001, and ratified the Convention in March 2004. The SC is a global treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The Convention text specifies measures that must be taken by interested prospective countries in order to comply with the obligations associated with being a Party to the Convention. The measures include regulations which are intended to enhance the sound management of chemicals, and institute controls with respect to the production, import, export, use and disposal of POPs as well as the reduction/elimination of unintentional releases of POPs. A basic and initial requirement for a country to meet its obligations as a Party to the SC is the preparation of a National Implementation Plan (NIP) within two years of entry into force of the Convention.

Other SC obligations on the Parties include, inter alia: the implementation of an action plan; promotion of the application of measures to eliminate or achieve realistic reductions in sources of POPs; promotion of the development and use of substitutes that eliminate the formation and/or releases of POPs; promotion and requirement for the use of Best Available Technologies (BAT)/ Best Environmental Practices (BEP) technology within specified industrial source categories with comparatively high potential for POP formation and release as well as requirements for necessary phasing-in of such requirements within specified time limits from entry into force of the SC.

In August 2002 Zambia lunched the NIP Project whose main objective is to ensure that the country meets its obligations under the SC; reduce and eliminate risks to human health and damage to environment that were occasioned by past POPs use, as well as to strengthen the national capacity to manage POPs. The framework for the development of the NIP was developed in such a manner as to take into account all ECZ classified broader groups of Pesticides and Toxic Substances (PTSs).

Preliminary activities within the NIP project involved the formation of four thematic working groups, namely: Dioxins and Furans; DDT; POPs Pesticides and PCBs.

In the last quarter of 2004 a nationwide inventory (the Zambia National POPs Inventory) which culminated in the production of databases for the four POPs working groups was concluded. The outputs of the inventory exercise were used in updating the first (1996) edition of the National Profile on Chemicals Management (NP) in line with the UNITAR Companion Guidance Note on “Preparing/Updating a National Profile as Part of a Stockholm Convention Implementation Plan”- (Working Draft, January 2003).

This draft report describes the final stages in the fourth (“Formulation of Prioritised and Costed NIP and Specific Action Plans on POPs Management”) of the five phases NIP preparation process. The first three completed phases consisted of:

  1. establishment of the co-ordinating mechanism and organisation of the process
  2. establishment of POPs inventory and assessment of national infrastructure and capacity
  3. priority setting and determination of national objectives in relation to priority POPs issues

The last stage will be the final endorsement of the NIP by all stakeholders in the country, so that there is commitment and ownership of the plan in Zambia.