The Fifth Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants has approved inclusion of endosulfan on the POP List, declaring that the chemical may no longer be used as a component in pesticides. The ban enters into force with a transitional period of several years. Endosulfan has been used as an insecticide, especially in growing tea, coffee, soybeans, and cotton.

Endosulfan is a neurotoxic chemical used in pesticides which is very persistent in the environment and accumulates in the fatty tissue of livers and kidneys in humans and animals where it damages health. It is transported through the atmosphere across very long distances, and thus endosulfan can be traced in e.g. the Arctic.

It has long been known that endosulfan poses a global problem to mankind and the environment. Therefore, more than 80 countries have banned use of the chemical, including a number of developing countries. It has been banned for use as a pesticide in the EU since 2005. Its former German producer Bayer CropScience discontinued production of endosulfan in 2007.