Combined Meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Elimination Network (ACPEN) (Fourth Meeting) and of the Core Teams of the Thematic Groups was held in SOE on September 7~8.

The discussion issues covered the rights and duty, the activity, the work plan and the fund collection of the Polychlorinated Biphenyls Elimination Network (PEN). At its fourth meeting in May 2009, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention made the decision to initiate the establishment of PEN to promote and facilitate information exchange to support the delivery of the obligations of the Stockholm Convention on the environmentally sound management of PCBs. Parties to PEN are obliged to help to eliminate equipment and oils containing PCBs from use by 2025. Nominated by MEP, Professor Li Jinhui from SOE was elected as a member of ACPEN.

UNEP China Office, Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity-building and the Transfer of Technology in Asia and the Pacific (SCRC China) and Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for Asia and the Pacific (BCCC China) co-organized this meeting. Of the 16 attendees, there were delegates from member countries of ACPEN, like China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Iran, Rwanda, Slovakia and Sweden, and representatives from UNEP, UNIDO and the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention. Officials from the department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Environment Protection (MEP) were also present.