Stockholm Convention failed to reach consensus on the listing of dicofol as resistance from India

The Stockholm Convention's Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) failed to reach consensus on a European Union proposal for the listing of dicofol at its ninth meeting from Oct. 14-18 in Rome, Italy. Dicofol is an organochlorine pesticide that is chemically related to DDT. According to the EU, the substance is used in many countries around the world on a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, and ornamental and field crops.

 “The committee member from India blocked a decision to begin a draft risk profile on dicofol on the grounds that it didn't meet any of the screening criteria.” said Joe DiGangi, senior science and technical adviser for the International POPs Elimination Network and an observer at the meeting.

“India promised to submit more data” but the “chairman and many of the committee members said that more data would really not fix the fundamental issue, which is India's misunderstanding of what the [screening] evaluation really is,” DiGangi said. “There was no scientific basis for their objection.”

The Review Committee will take up the issue again at its next meeting in 2014.