HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 9/4

Adopted 15 February 1988, having regard to Article 13, Paragraph b) of the Helsinki convention

RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING REDUCTION OF EMISSIONS OF LEAD FROM COMBUSTION OF LEADED GASOLINE

THE COMMISSION,

RECALLING that according to Article 6 of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1974, (Helsinki Convention) , the Contracting Parties shall take all appropriate measures to strictly limit and control pollution by noxious substances,

RECALLING ALSO that Annex II of the Helsinki Convention defines lead as a noxious substance for the purpose of Article 6 of the Convention,

RECOGNIZING that a considerable amount of lead enters the Baltic Sea via the atmosphere,

RECOGNIZING ALSO that the aeolian pathway is the most important route of entry of lead into the Baltic Sea,

RECOGNIZING FURTHER that the most important source of emission of lead to the atmosphere is automobile exhaust caused by combustion of leaded gasoline,

BEING MINDFUL of the risk of pollution caused by emission of lead,

NOTING that, although concentration of lead in Baltic offshore waters is comparatively low, substantial amounts of lead have accumulated in Baltic Sea sediments,

DESIRING to reduce the emission of lead to the Baltic Sea environment,

RECOMMENDS to the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention that:

lead content in gasoline as an automobile fuel should be reduced considerably step by step in an appropriate time-scale.

Lead-free gasoline should be offered as soon as possible as an alternative in parallel, in order to reduce additionally the quantity of lead in the environment and to facilitate international movement of vehicles,

RECOMMENDS FURTHER that actions taken by the Contracting Parties to replace leaded gasoline by lead free gasoline should be reported to the Commission one year after the adoption of the Recommendation and thereafter every five years.