Following up on the commitment of President George W Bush to sign the global treaty on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Whitman has signed the convention on behalf of the United States in Stockholm, Sweden. Ministers from more than 90 nations also signed the treaty.
The administration plans to submit the treaty to the US Senate for ratification. The United States was among the first to call for a global POPs convention and was a leader in bringing this environmental treaty to a successful conclusion.
Bush, in a Rose Garden ceremony attended by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Whitman, advocated completion of the agreement to rid the world of these highly toxic chemicals and pesticides. Bush hailed the treaty as one that would safeguard the health of Americans, while assisting developing nations.
The United States worked closely with other nations to reach a broad consensus on an interim work plan that will focus on ways to address the 12 chemicals targeted in the treaty. Once in force, the convention's provisions permit the addition of other chemicals to the list.
Chemicals on the list include DDT, PCBs, and dioxins. POPs are toxic, persist in the environment for long periods of time, and accumulate as they move up the food chain. The United States already has banned or severely restricted production, use, sale, and/or release of these chemicals. However, many nations have taken little or no action.