National Implementation Plan under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the United Arab Emirates.

This National Implementation Plan of the Stockholm Convention is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at significantly reducing the risks due to POPs in order to protect the environment and public health, at all stages, from their production to transport, circulation to safe disposal, and at the same time spread the use of safer alternatives up to a clean technology for the environment and health. To achieve the goal, the following are the main objectives envisaged by the document (i) development, investigation and study of POPs use and investigation of the related legal compliance; (ii) planning and surveys to control the status (presence or absence) of existing bans and restrictions of POPs; (iii) control on the prohibited uses of POPs and the necessary practices for their safe disposal by the users; (iv) coordination with various research projects related to POPs issues; (v) improving knowledge and concrete measures to reduce POPs emissions. Among the proposed interventions there are (i) management of POPs pesticides at an environmental level (product registration, site surveys and remediation of the polluted ones), at a social level (awareness of farmers, and the population in general, through the dissemination of data and information programs), at a health level (study of pesticide residues in imported food), at a legislative level (updating of the legislation relating to restricted and prohibited pesticides.