UK - Amendment to Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations

In furtherance of environmental protection efforts, the UK government has introduced two sets of amendments to the Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023 No. 729):

Enacted at 9:30 a.m. on June 29, 2023, and coming into force on July 4, 2023, these regulations extend the specific exemption period in Annex 1 for "perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts, and PFOA-related compounds" in certain personal protective equipment. The extension moves the deadline from July 4, 2023, to December 3, 2025. The Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers and the Welsh Ministers, exercised powers conferred by Articles 2A, 15(1), and 18(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021.

Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023 No. 1217):

These regulations, effective from November 15, 2023, modify Part A of Annex 1 to Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (recast). The notable addition is "Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), its salts, and PFHxS-related compounds" to the list of substances, with specified concentration limits for various contexts. Rebecca Pow, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, emphasized alignment with the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.