CLRTAP

The 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) entered into force in 1983. The Republic of Macedonia accessed as a member country and ratified and signed the Convention on November 17th 1991.The Convention now totals 51 countries-signatories which resolve the main environmental issues in the UNECE region through scientific cooperation and negotiations.

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The purpose of the convention is to improve air quality at local, national and regional level through mutual cooperation and definition of specific measures that should be undertaken by the countries in aim to reduce emissions of certain pollutants from various sectors (industry, agriculture, transport, etc.) due to the convention during the past eight defined protocols:

The 1984 Protocol on Long-term Financing of the Cooperative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP)
The 1985 Protocol on the Reduction of Sulphur Emissions or their Transboundary Fluxes by at least 30 per cent
The 1988 Protocol concerning the Control of Nitrogen Oxides or their Transboundary Fluxes
 The 1991 Protocol concerning the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or their Transboundary Fluxes
 The 1994 Protocol on Further Reduction of Sulphur Emissions
 The 1998 Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and its 2009 amended version
 The 1998 Protocol on Heavy Metals and its 2012 amended version
 The 1999 Protocol to Abate Acidification, Eutrophication and Ground-level Ozone and its 2012 amended version

The first five protocols Republic of Macedonia has ratified in February 2010 (Fig. Gazette of RM no. 24/10), and the last three in October 2010 (Fig. Gazette of RM no. 135/10). However, due to the long duration of negotiations for accepting the national limit values and emissions in base years and their inclusion in Annex II,  Republic of Macedonia became a member of the Gothenburg Protocol in September 2014.

In 2009 were adopted amendments to the POPs Protocol, and in 2012 the Protocol on Heavy Metals and the Protocol on reducing acidification eutrophication and ground-level ozone. So far, only a few European countries have adopted these amendments.
As a member-state of the CLRTAP Convention and their Protocols, Republic of Macedonia meets the protocol requirements through development, adoption and implementation of bylaws and strategies for coping with the release of pollutants in the air, by implementation and control of monitoring of pollutants, information exchange, consultations, research and monitoring of the documents deriving from the Convention.

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Republic of Macedonia though representatives of MEPP actively participates in the work of the Convention and its working bodies : Executive body, EMEP Management Boars, Strategies and reviews working group and Implementation Committee