Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2020 to Question 13972 on Chemicals, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts as part of the Stockholm process on the management of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) as a group of chemicals; and whether he has made representations to his international counterparts on (a) listing and (b) managing PFAS as a group of chemicals as part of that process.

The Stockholm Convention lists persistent organic pollutant chemicals (POPs) that are toxic, persist in the environment, bioaccumulate in humans and animals and have long-ranging properties.

International awareness is growing of the adverse effects of PFAS as a group. The Stockholm Convention has banned some of the most harmful chemicals in the PFAS family and the UK has fully supported this action.

The Government is working with international counterparts on new PFAS assessments and lifecycle approaches and will continue work to develop these. Defra officials have been attending the POP review committee and inputting into the evidence base. The department is also financing PFAS evidence projects through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and remains an active member.

We will continue to develop our position on the rest of the PFAS group, based on evidence, and will engage with our international partners to support the ban on any PFAS substances that fulfil the POPs criteria.