Global efforts dealing with chemicals with an integrated and life-cycle approach have roots in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. It is recognized that the “sound management of chemicals is essential if we are to achieve sustainable development including the eradication of poverty and disease, the improvement of human health and the environment and the elevation and maintenance of the standard of living in countries at all levels of development”. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is a powerful instrument, however, more needs to be done in order to protect human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals.