The Stockholm Convention1 on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was formally adopted on May 23, 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Convention entered into force on May 17, 2004. By August 2008, 157 countries (including 22 EU Member States) as well as the European Community had ratified the Protocol. Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified the POPs Convention on March 30, 2010, committing itself to meeting the requirements of the Convention.

The aim of the Convention is to protect human health and the environment5 from POPs, taking into account the precautionary approach set out in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Article 1). The Convention seeks to achieve this by identifying and including these hazardous toxic substances/chemicals in its annexes (Annex to the Convention) and then defining restrictions and elimination from production, use, trade, storage and discharge.

The general commitment of Bosnia and Herzegovina to actively participate in international trends in the field of environmental management bears a number of rights and obligations. Accession to the European Union requires the fulfilment of very demanding conditions and engaged action towards the acceptance and implementation of international environmental agreements, which include the relevant Stockholm Convention.