From 28 April to 9 May, PAN International, its members and Regional Centres will attend the meetings of the Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in Geneva, Switzerland – the BRS COPS.
This year, the very harmful insecticide chlorpyrifos is recommended for listing on Annex A of the Stockholm Convention and Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention. Other harmful pesticides, such as paraquat, acetochlor, carbosulfan and others are also recommended for listing on Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention.
PAN’s BRS COPs Advisory strongly urges parties to the conventions (governments) to list all of these pesticides in Geneva without exception, and provides a range of technical briefings and further resources on chlorpyrifos and other pesticides produced by members of PAN’s Regional Centres to inform delegates about the health impacts of these pesticides, and ecologically sound and socially just alternatives.
PAN has been involved in the development of the Stockholm Convention since its inception in 2001, participating in its expert review committee, POPRC, as observers. The Convention aims to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as pesticides, including by listing them on its Annexes, which provide for different levels of regulation, including global bans. PAN members also contribute to the work of the Rotterdam Convention on international trade in hazardous chemicals, including as observers in its Chemical Review Committee (CRC), which recommends pesticides for listing so that countries must exchange information.
Please join us online or in person for our co-organised official BRS COPs side event, on 2 May, 18:15-19:45 CEST: Accelerating the transition from HHPs to biopesticides and agroecological alternatives: Fostering sustainable food systems while mitigating severe environmental and public health impacts
Technical briefings for the 2025 BRS COPs include:
Briefings: Nonchemical alternatives to chlorpyrifos
- Non-chemical Alternatives to Chlorpyrifos in India (in French, in Spanish)
- Beyond Chlorpyrifos: Transitioning to safer pest management for key crops in Southeast Asia
- Nonchemical alternatives to chlorpyrifos for the specific exemptions recommended by the POPRC
- Why India needs to ban Chlorpyrifos
Additional information
Information on chlorpyrifos and health
- Folleto sobre clorpirifos
- Informe sobre clorpirifos en México: Razones para su prohibición
- Urgent Need to Ban the Brain-Harming Chlorpyrifos
- State Of Chlorpyrifos, Fipronil, Atrazine And Paraquat Dichloride In India
Information on paraquat: Alternatives and health effects
- Adverse health effects caused by paraquat
- Agriculture without paraquat is feasible without loss of productivity—lessons learned from phasing out a highly hazardous herbicide
- Field guide: How to grow crops without paraquat
PAN at BRS COPs 2025
7th May 2025: PAN Intervention on Fenthion
On Thursday, the listing of Fenthion ultra-low volume formulations was discussed in plenary. PAN shared its recommendation on this substance. The COP agreed on listing this substance under the Rotterdam Convention Annex III.
6th May 2025: Negotiations on the listing under the Rotterdam Convention continue
Listing of Acetochlor, Carbosulfan and Paraquat dichloride formulations was brought up during plenary. PAN shared its views on these substances.
5th May 2025: Intensification of the negotiations under the Rotterdam Convention & PAN’s interventions
On Monday, discussions on the listing of chemicals under Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention and the listing of chlorpyrifos and paraquat were intensively discussed by the Parties. PAN shared its views on the importance of listing both chemicals under the Convention.
2nd May 2025: PAN & co-organising organisations’ official BRS COPs side event & Vote on Chlorpyrifos on listing under the Stockholm Convention
On Friday, at the Stockholm Convention 12th Conference of the Parties (COP 12), Parties adopted the decision to list chlorpyrifos in Annex A of the Convention with time-limited specific exemptions, thereby agreeing to the global elimination of uses of this highly hazardous pesticide. However, Parties tripled the number of exemptions from the seven uses originally recommended by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) to 22 uses, without the POPRC experts’ review.
“The promise is, however, blurred by a few countries that added exemptions without review for protecting companies’ profits, thus weakening science-based decision-making. We failed to protect the future for our children“, said Jayakumar Chelaton, Chair of PAN International.
Read the entire press release here.
Later that day, PAN & co-organising organisations explored the impacts of Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) on environmental and public health and pathways to advancing biopesticide initiatives and agroecology-based solutions. Panellists discussed the benefits, adoption challenges, and policy options for scaling up biopesticides and implementing agroecological approaches with a focus on chlorpyrifos. Dr. Tadesse Amera, PAN International co-coordinator and Executive Director of PAN Ethiopia, presented available alternatives to Chlorpyrifos through the case study of cotton pest management in Ethiopia.
30th April 2025: Interventions on DDT & Chlorpyrifos-Free Café
During the morning plenary session on 30 April, PAN shared relevant inputs on the phase-out of DDT, acknowledging the progress that has been made and stressing the need to move to sustainable alternatives globally without further delay.
Later, during the lunch break, PAN and IPEN officially opened the Chlorpyrifos-Free Café, serving organic/chlorpyrifos-free coffee and snacks to conference delegates visiting both booths. This opportunity was used to share information on the harmful effects of chlorpyrifos on human health and the environment, on available sustainable alternatives, and to advocate for the listing of chlorpyrifos in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention.
28th April 2025: Interventions on Chlorpyrifos
On the first day of the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-17), the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-12), and the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-12) PAN made valuable interventions on the listing of Chlorpyrifos to Annex A of the Stockholm convention.
