OSPAR Convention

OSPAR is short for the Oslo-Paris Convention which is an environmental agreement between the countries bordering the North Sea and North Atlantic. It was ratified by Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Switzerland and entered into force on 25 March 1998.

Among other remits such as the protection of biodiversity and the fight against climate change, OSPAR calls on European countries to reduce the presence of chemicals in the North-East Atlantic. Brominated flame retardants are among the substances investigated and monitored. Contrary to some misperceptions, OSPAR is not advocating a ban of brominated flame retardants but works with Member states and industry to reduce levels in the environment by 2020. BSEF is supporting efforts to achieve this goal through an emissions reduction programme covering both BFRs production and customer industries.  The OSPAR Commission is closely co-operating with the European Commission, which is  responsible for performing scientific assessments of the main brominated flame retardants in the framework of REACH.