National Legislation  

In 1997, through the Resolution no. 19/13C, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) suggested the creation of an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to discuss the global issue represented by the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).  

The Negotiating Committee worked from 1998 to 2000, and issued an international legal instrument aiming to reduce and eliminate the use and emissions of 12 persistent organic pollutants and identify and add new substances having the same characteristics of the POPs in the list. 

In May 2001, during the Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries (DIPCON) in Sweden, the parties decided to adopt this legally binding instrument named as Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.  During DIPCON, 91 countries including Brazil signed the Convention. 

In February 28^th 2003, Ministry of the Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, through a Joint Communication no. 71/MRE/MMA, addressed to the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil the text of the Stockholm  Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) translated into Portuguese Language.   

On May 16^th 2003, the Presidency addressed to the Brazilian National Congress the message no. 190 followed by the text of the Stockholm Convention to be ratified by the House of Representatives and the Federal Senate.   

On November 7^th 2003, the text of the Stockholm Convention on POPs ratified by the Brazilian House of Representatives as the Legislative Project no. 818/2003 was sent to the Federal Senate on November 12^th 2003, through Letter PS-GSE/1037/03. 

On May 7^th 2004, the Federal Senate approved the text of the Stockholm Convention on POPs (Legislative Decree Project n.º 894/2003) that passed to be the Legislative Decree n.º 204/04. 

On July 20^th 2005, the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, through the Decree no. 5.472, enacted the text of the Stockholm Convention, establishing the development of the National Implementation Plan (NIP-POPs), with participation of the Civil Society and NGOs.