The Environmental Policy Committee (EPOC) has 39 legal instruments under its sole responsibility, covering the following areas: the Polluter-Pays Principle, air pollution, biodiversity, coastal zone management, energy, environmental information, environmental performance of government, environmental policy instruments, material flows and resource productivity, noise, transboundary pollution, transport, tourism, water and waste. In the area of waste, four legal instruments (one Decision and three Decisions-Recommendations) are legally binding. EPOC shares the responsibility for three additional legal instruments with other committees.
Based on its 2017 Standard-Setting Action Plan, EPOC has been revising and consolidating many of the legal instruments under its remit and developing new ones, based on its current and recent work. The legal instruments serve as key benchmarks in accession reviews of countries that are candidates for OECD membership.
The Chemicals and Biotechnology Committee (CBC) is responsible for 20 legal instruments (including one under joint responsibility with EPOC), covering minimum legal requirements to operate a system of Mutual Acceptance of Data on the safety of chemicals, manage industrial and consumer chemicals, fight illegal trade of pesticides, manage the risks of individual chemicals such as lead or mercury, prevent chemical accidents, or establish Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers.
