The 2001 Stockholm Convention on POPs will become legally binding on May 17 after France become the 50th country to ratify the agreement, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a statement.

"For decades these highly toxic chemicals have killed and injured people and wildlife by inducing cancer and damaging the nervous, reproductive and immune systems. They have also caused uncounted birth defects," said UNEP executive director Klaus Toepfer.

Toepfer said the convention would "strengthen the overall scope and effectiveness of international environmental law".

Global environmental group Greenpeace welcomed the news.

"This is not just a victory for the environment but also clearly demonstrates that with political will, the international community can secure a safer future for the next generation by putting people's health over the short-term interest of some polluting industries," Greenpeace said in a statement.

The UN treaty focuses on 12 POPs -- the insecticides mirex and toxaphene, aldrin, chlordane, dioxins, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, furans, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene and polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs).

UNEP said 11 of the 12 chemicals would be banned immediately and the use of DDT -- which is still considered acceptable and essential by the World Health Organisation in many countries to control malaria tranmission by mosquitoes -- would be restricted.

One of the first priorities when the parties to the convention meet in Uruguay in early 2005 will be "to assist countries to combat malaria by replacing DDT with the increasingly safe and effective alternatives", UNEP said.

TERRA.WIRE