The Hazardous Substances Strategy sets the objective of preventing pollution of the maritime area by continuously reducing discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances, with the ultimate aim of achieving concentrations in the marine environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for man-made synthetic substances.

As its timeframe, the Hazardous Substances Strategy further declares that the Commission will implement this Strategy progressively by making every endeavour to move towards the target of the cessation of discharges, emissions and losses of hazardous substances by the year 2020.

The Hazardous Substances Committee (HSC) was established by OSPAR 2000 to facilitate the implementation of the OSPAR Hazardous Substances Strategy. HSC Terms of Reference

To implement this Strategy, the OSPAR Commission has adopted:

	Decisions, recommendations and other agreements
	Implementation Reports and Implementation Reporting Formats
	The OSPAR List of Substances of Possible Concern
	Substances Removed from the List of Substances of Possible Concern and from the List of Chemicals for Priority Action
	The OSPAR List of Chemicals for Priority Action
	Background documents on priority chemicals
	Reports and other publications on hazardous substances
	Hazardous Substances Committee Work Programme

Recent work by the OSPAR Commission on Hazardous Substances is described in this extract from the Annual Report of the OSPAR Commission 2006/2007.

© Copyright OSPAR Commission 1998- - All rights Reserved