From: ACTIV-L via Jym Dyer <jym@mica.berkeley.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.environment
Subject: NEWS: End of Toxic Waste Shipments is Not in Sight
Followup-To: alt.activism.d,talk.environment
Date: 9 Jan 1993 05:58:52 GMT
Organization: The Naughty Peahen Party Line
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu
Keywords: environment press

[From EcoNet reg.samerica Conference]
[Also Posted to ACTIV-L and misc.activism.progressive (by Somebody Else)]

================================================================
=> Date: 9:25pm  Dec 15,1992
=> From: James Binder <jbinder@igc.org>
=> Subject: IPS:ENVIRONMENT-Toxic waste shipments

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.
Permission to reprint within 7 days of original date only
with permission from 'newsdesk@igc.org'.

Title: ENVIRONMENT: END OF TOXIC WASTE SHIPMENTS IS NOT IN SIGHT

an inter press service feature

by anahi rama

piriapolis, uruguay, dec 5 (ips) -- debates at a just-ended
conference of signatories of the basle convention on the
elimination of toxic wastes indicate that it will take a long
time before industrialized countries stop shipping toxic
materials to other nations.

the majority of the developing countries wanted a total ban on
the cross-border transport of toxic waste, but they were unable
to make their wishes prevail over those of the industrialized
nations, which generate 90 percent of these substances and do
not seem prepared to stop ''exporting'' them.

the industrialized countries contended that, to stop exporting
their toxic waste, they would need to spend huge sums of money
to reconvert their industries. they said they would also require
time to do so, but they did not specify any time-frame.

the nov. 30 - dec. 4 meeting was the first held by the
signatories of the basle treaty since its signing in 1989.
thirty-two countries participated in the encounter -- held
in piriapolis, 100 km east of montevideo --, while the
united states and japan attended as observers.

officials of the un environment programme (unep) warned that
the situation could worsen as third world countries develop
their economies and begin to generate toxic wastes as well.

unep director mustafa tolba said that, since the united states,
japan and the european community (ec) have refused to stop the
traffic in toxic waste, the alternative left to developing
countries was to pass laws banning such shipments to their
countries.

he said he did not know why they had not already done so and
quipped that it seemed that they always had to wait for others
to do things for them.

tolba also said it was necessary for many more countries to sign
the basle treaty, since the waste problem regarded all nations.

for the sake of a consensus, the meeting produced a final
document which limiting itself to ''asking'' the industrialized
countries to prohibit all cross-border movements of dangerous
waste and allow the recycling of some of them.

a technical group was created to draw up guidelines for
evaluating, identifying and managing substances considered
recyclable.

however, the document left open the possibility of transporting
waste from one country to another, as long as its handling ''is
environmentally rational.''

the exporting country would be responsible for any accident
which occured during the transport and for recycling, since
the less industrialized countries have admitted that they
lack the technology needed for this.

but brazil's marijane lisboa, who represented her country's
chapter of ''greenpeace'', an international ecological
organization, pointed out that recycling is only ''a cosmetic
meant to disguise the export of waste, because we know that
the rich countries do not have the appropriate technology
to do it.''

mexican delegate amparo villamil told ips that ''the ideal
thing would be to move to stop producing waste but, for now,
this does not seem possible.''

despite its severe pollution problems, mexico authorizes the
entry into its territory of seven toxic substances, but says
it has the means to recycle them.

economic development in the north and the ambiguity of the
industrialized countries on the question of toxic waste
disposal, both at this week's conference and at the un
conference on environment and development, held in rio de
janeiro in june, expose the planet to a future marked by
excessive toxic garbage, environmentalists feel.

this can change if developing countries ban the importation
of these substances but, according to ''greenpeace'', as long
as there are one or two countries who do not impose the ban,
''toxic terrorism'' would be directed towards them.

u.s. greenpeace delegate kevin stears said that, at the
piriapolis meeting, the continued dumping of toxic residue
from the rich countries in the poor ones was legitimized.

he said the conference was therefore a total failure.

this year alone 72,000 tonnes of toxic waste were sent
''from the first to the third world,'' he said, adding that
by the time the next evaluation of the basle convention is
held, three years from now, a great deal of garbage would
have been transported from one country to another.

stears also said that at conferences of this nature, economic
pressures prevail and countries are incapable of resolving
anything concrete, since they protect their industries above
the health of their people.

research by greenpeace shows that waste given off by the
processing of substances like lead, nickel, aluminium or zinc
causes, whether directly or indirectly, illnesses such as
cancer, poisoning, anemia and brain damage.

(end/ips/trd/so/ar-in/kb/92)

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