The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was adopted by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries on 22 May 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Convention entered into force on 17 May 2004. It is a global treaty protecting human health and the environment from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These substances can travel long distances and a government acting alone cannot protect its citizens or its environment from POPs. It is a global problem: the Stockholm Convention requires its parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment.
The Convention’s provisions include requiring each party to:
- Prohibit and/or eliminate the production and use, as well as the import and export, of intentionally produced POPs that are listed in Annex A to the Convention (Article 3);
- Restrict the production and use, as well as the import and export, of the intentionally produced POPs that are listed in Annex B to the Convention (Article 3);
- Reduce or eliminate releases from unintentionally produced POPs that are listed in Annex C to the Convention (Article 5);
- Ensure that stockpiles and wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with POPs are managed safely and in an environmentally sound manner (Article 6); and
- To target additional POPs (Article 8).
The POPs currently listed and candidates to join the list, their CAS numbers and the Annex that applies to them are shown in the below table:
| Substance | CAS No | Annexes |
| Aldrin | 309-00-2 | A |
| Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane | 319-84-6 | A |
| Beta hexachlorocyclohexane | 319-85-7 | A |
| Chlordane | 57-74-9 | A |
| Chlordecone | 143-50-0 | A |
| Decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) present in commercial decabromodiphenyl ether (c-decaBDE) | 1163-19-5 | A |
| Dieldrin | 60-57-1 | A |
| Endrin | 72-20-8 | A |
| Heptachlor | 76-44-8 | A |
| Hexabromobiphenyl | 36355-01-8 | A |
| Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) | 25637-99-4 3194-55-6 134237-50-6 134237-51-7 134237-52-8 | A |
| Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether | A | |
| Hexachlorobenzene (HBC) | 118-74-1 | A and C |
| Hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) | 87-68-3 | A and C |
| Lindane | 58-89-9 | A |
| Mirex | 2385-85-5 | A |
| Pentachlorobenzene | 608-93-5 | A and C |
| Pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its salts and esters | 87-86-5 and others | A |
| Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) | 1336-36-6 and others | A and C |
| Polychlorinated naphthalenes, including dichlorinated naphthalenes, trichlorinated naphthalenes, tetrachlorinated naphthalenes, pentachlorinated naphthalenes, hexachlorinated naphthalenes, heptachlorinated naphthalenes, octachlorinated naphthalene | A and C | |
| Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (Alkanes, C10-13, chloro) + : straightchain chlorinated hydrocarbons with chain lengths ranging from C10 to C13 and a content of chlorine greater than 48 per cent by weight For example, the substances with the following CAS numbers given may contain short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP) | 85535-84-8 68920-70-7 71011-12-6 85536-22-7 85681-73-8 108171-26-2 | A |
| Technical endosulfan and its related isomers | 115-29-7 959-98-8 33213-65-9 | A |
| Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether | A | |
| Toxaphene | 8001-35-2 | A |
| DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (4- chlorophenyl)ethane) | 50-29-3 | B |
| Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its saltsa and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride For example: potassium perfluorooctane sulfonate; lithium perfluorooctane sulfonate ; ammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate; diethanolammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate ; tetraethylammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate ; didecyldimethylammonium perfluorooctane sulfonate | 1763-23-1 B307-35-7 2795-39-3 29457- 72-5 29081-56-9 70225-14-8 56773-42-3 251099-16-8 | |
| Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD &PCDF) | C | |
| Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts and PFHxS-related compounds | 355-46-4 | Candidate |
| Dechlorane Plus | 13560-89-9 135821-03-3 135821-74-8 | Candidate |
| Methoxychlor | 72-43-5 | Candidate |
In 2004, the Council of the Economic Union issued a Council Decision (2006/507/EC) to approve Stockholm Convention, which had been signed by the European Community on 22 May 2001.