BAT and BEP Guidance

To facilitate implementation of Article 5, Parties recognized the need for a harmonized framework for elaboration of comparable release inventories of Annex C chemicals, and for detailed state-of the-art guidelines on best available techniques and guidance on best environmental practices.

The Guidelines on best available techniques and guidance on best environmental practices provide the necessary guidance called for in paragraph c) of the Article 5:

To minimize their releases of POPs from unintentional production, Parties shall promote in some cases and require in others the use of best available techniques, and promote the application of best environmental practices.

Guidelines on best available techniques and provisional guidance on best environmental practices

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• Section I is an introduction and includes the purpose and structure of the document; a brief description of the characteristics and risks of chemicals listed in Annex C of the Stockholm Convention; directly relevant provisions of the Stockholm Convention, Article 5 and Annex C; a summary of required measures under these provisions; and an explanation of the relationship of these provisions to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.
• Section II provides guidance on consideration of alternatives, including a checklist that may be used in applying best available techniques to new sources, and information on other considerations of the Stockholm Convention.
• Section III includes general guidance, applicable principles and descriptions of considerations that cut across multiple source categories.
• Section IV is a compilation of the summaries provided for each category source in sections V and VI.
• Sections V and VI contain specific guidelines for each source category listed in Part II and Part III of Annex C of the Stockholm Convention. For each of the source-specific guidelines, the following information is provided:

• Process description;
• Sources of chemicals listed in Annex C;
• Primary and secondary measures;
• Performance levels;
• Performance reporting;
• Case studies.

References and bibliographic information are provided for each of the guidelines.

The guidelines can be used by different audiences that are involved in the implementation of the Stockholm Convention at the national level, such as policy makers, regulatory authorities, engineers, other technical users, other stakeholders and interested parties.

It is suggested that users refer to the following sections: