1. Introduction The Netherlands became a party to the Stockholm Convention in 2002. This Convention concerns persistent organic pollutants and entered into force on 17 May 2004. It provides for a global ban on the production of and trade in eight pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene), two industrial chemicals (hexachlorobenzene and PCBs) and two by-products of incineration processes (dioxins and furans).