WORLD TRADE WT/CTE/W/55
25August 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3469)
Original: English Committee onTrade andEnvironment
RECENT TRADE-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS INTHE BASEL CONVENTION
Communication from theBasel Convention ontheControl ofTransboundary
Movements ofHazardous Wastes andtheirDisposal
1. TheBasel Convention ontheControl ofTransboundary Movements ofHazardous Wastes and
theirDisposalwasadoptedon22March1988andenteredintoforceon5May1992.Asof8July1997,
112States andtheEuropean Economic Community areParties totheConvention. Thus, theBasel
Convention canberegarded asreflecting theviews oftheworld community.
I. ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES OFTHE BASEL CONVENTION
2. TheConvention 'soverall objective is"toprotect, bystrict control, human health andthe
environment against theadverse effects which mayresult from thegeneration andmanagement of
hazardous wastes andother wastes" (preamble). Inorder toachieve thisaim,thefollowing main
principles canbeidentified:
(a) reduction ofthegeneration ofhazardous wastes;
(b) disposal ofhazardous wastes asclose aspossible totheirsource ofgeneration;
(c) minimization ofthegeneration ofhazardous wastes interms ofquantity and
hazardousness;
(d) environmentally-sound management ofhazardous wastes; and
(e) prevention ofillegal traffic.
3. TheConvention provides foranelaborate control system which isbased ontheprinciple of
written prior informed consent which imposes certain rights andduties onexporting, importing and
transit states (Article 6).
II. TRADE-RELATED PROVISIONS
4. TheBasel Convention contains twoprovisions referring tointernational trade.
A. TherightoftheParties totheBasel Convention tobantheimport ofhazardous wastes
5. Every Statehasthesovereign righttobantheimport ofhazardous wastes. Parties totheBasel
Convention exercising thisrightshallinform theother Parties oftheirdecision through theSecretariat
oftheConvention (Article 4,paragraph 1(a)). Over 100countries havenotified theSecretariat ofthe
Basel Convention thattheyhaveimplemented abanontheimport ofhazardous wastes.
6. Article 4,paragraph 1(b)stipulates thatParties shallprohibit orshallnotpermit theexport
ofhazardous wastes orother wastes totheParties which haveprohibited theimport ofsuchwastes,
when notified pursuant toArticle 4,paragraph 1(a).WT/CTE/W/55
Page2
7. Therighttoban(Article 4,paragraph 1(a))isageneral onewhich shall, ifused, beapplied
vis-à-vis allother countries, equally between Parties andnon-Parties totheConvention. Itistherefore
incompliance withtheprinciple ofnon-discrimination. Also, doubts cannot beraised thatacountry
exercising therighttobanispursuing aprotectionism policy. Itfollows fromthedefinition ofwaste -
"substances orobjects which aredisposed oforareintended tobedisposed of,orarerequired to
bedisposed ofbytheprovisions ofnational law"(Article 2)-thatthesubstances inquestion arenot
goods which areproduced tobecommercialized butaregenerated asaresult oftheproduction process
ofother goods. Theconcept ofprotecting thewaste generated locally has,therefore, noplace within
thelogic oftheBasel Convention.
B. Theobligations oftheParties totheBasel Convention nottoexport orimport fromnon-Parties
totheConvention
8. Oneofthemainobjectives oftheBasel Convention istocontrol thetransboundary movements
ofhazardous wastes inorder toavoid thenegative effects onhealth andtheenvironment which could
result fromthemovements ofsuchwastes andtoguarantee theirproper handling fromtheirgeneration
totheirfinaldisposal.
9. Itwasclear during thenegotiations oftheBasel Convention thatpermitting aParty todeal
withnon-Parties would beavalve through which theParty could derogate fromtheobligations ofthe
Basel Convention, thusfacilitating themovement anddisposal ofhazardous wastes without anykind
ofguarantee andsafety forhuman health andtheenvironment. Therefore, andalsotoencourage
non-Parties toratify theConvention, Article 4,paragraph 5wasincluded intheConvention:
"AParty shallnotpermit hazardous wastes orother wastes tobeexported toanon-Party or
tobeimported from anon-Party."
10. Directly linked tothisprovision isArticle 11,permitting Parties todealwithnon-Parties under
thecondition ofconcluding bilateral, regional ormultilateral agreements orarrangements. Itreads:
"1. NotwithstandingtheprovisionsofArticle4,paragraph5,Partiesmayenterintobilateral,
multilateral orregional agreements orarrangements regarding transboundary movements of
hazardous wastes orother wastes withParties ornon-Parties provided thatsuchagreements
orarrangements donotderogate from theenvironmentally-sound management ofhazardous
wastes andother wastes asrequired bythisConvention. Theagreements orarrangements shall
stipulate provisions which arenotlessenvironmentally-sound thanthose provided forbythis
Convention inparticular taking intoaccount theinterests ofdeveloping countries.
"2. Parties shallnotify theSecretariat ofanybilateral, multilateral orregional agreements
orarrangements referred toinparagraph 1andthose which theyhaveentered intoprior to
theentry intoforce ofthisConvention forthem, forthepurpose ofcontrolling transboundary
movements ofhazardous wastes andotherwastes which takeplace pursuant tosuchagreements
provided thatsuchagreements arecompatible withtheenvironmentally-sound management
ofhazardous wastes andother wastes asrequired bythisConvention."
11. Theabove quoted provisions ofArticle 11allow theParties totheConvention todealwith
non-PartiesonthebasisofparallelrulestotheBaselConvention.Exporttoandimportfromnon-Parties,
therefore, isonlypermitted under thecondition thatitisbased onrulesnotlessenvironmentally-sound
thantheonesoftheConvention. Thiscontributes tothecontrol andreduction oftransboundary
movements ofhazardous wastes and,atthesame time, enhances theprinciple ofnon-discrimination
andequal treatment.WT/CTE/W/55
Page3
12. Therefore, inrelation tothecontrol oftransboundary movements ofhazardous wastes Parties
andnon-Parties willhavetorespect standards recognized asessential bytheinternational community
fortheprotection oftheenvironment. Trade restrictions against non-Parties donotonlyaimtoinduce
non-Parties toaccede tobilateral, multilateral andregional agreements, butalsotoachieve theaim
ofnon-discrimination.
C. Decision III/1: theBanAmendment
13. Recognizing theincreased desire anddemand oftheinternational community fortheprohibition
oftransboundary movements ofhazardous wastes andtheirdisposal especially indeveloping countries,
thesecond meeting oftheConference oftheParties decided toimmediately prohibit alltransboundary
movements ofhazardous wastes which aredestined forfinaldisposal from OECD tonon-OECD
countries, andtophase outsuchmovements forrecycling orrecovery operations by31December 1997
(Decision II/12). Thistransitional period hasbeenseenasnecessary toenable OECD countries to
takeappropriate measures consistent withtheenvironmentally-sound management ofsuchwastes.
14. Thethirdmeeting oftheConference oftheParties adopted anamendment oftheConvention
incorporating thisbanintheBasel Convention. Theamendment (Decision III/1) obligates Parties and
other States which aremembers ofOECD, EC,Liechtenstein toprohibit alltransboundary movements
ofhazardous wastes which aredestined forfinaldisposal toother states. Transboundary movements
ofhazardous wastes which aredestined forrecovery orrecycling havetobephased out,andprohibited
asofthatdate, by31December 1997.
15. AnyParty isfreetoasktobeincluded inAnnex VII. TheConference oftheParties asthe
sovereign body oftheConvention would havetodecide onanysuchrequests. Indeed, atitsfourth
meeting (Malaysia, 6-10October 1997), theConference willalready havetoconsider suchrequests.
Ifneedbe,more specific criteria willhavetobedeveloped inthecourse ofthenegotiations, inthe
lightoftheobjectives oftheConvention.
16. TheTechnical Working Group, asubsidiary bodyunder theBasel Convention, hasclassified
andcharacterized which materials aretobeconsidered "hazardous wastes" under theConvention and,
therefore, willfallunder thebanamendment. TheTechnical Working Group hasproposed thatthe
wastes placed ona"List A"arewastes characterized ashazardous under Article 1paragraph 1(a)of
theConvention. Thewastes on"List B"would notbecharacterized ashazardous under Article 1
paragraph 1(a)oftheConvention unless theycontain Annex Imaterial toanextent causing them to
exhibit oneormore Annex IIIhazardous characteristics. However, ifawaste onListBisconsidered
tobehazardous bythelegislation ofaParty ofexport, import ortransit, thiswaste would nevertheless
besubject tothecontrol regime oftheConvention (Article 1paragraph 1(b)). Areview mechanism
hasbeenestablished which makes itpossible toaddwastes toListAorBortowithdraw wastes from
those lists.
17. Thefourth meeting oftheConference oftheParties willconsider theoutcome ofthework
oftheTechnical Working Group andhowthelistsofwastes should beintegrated intheframework
oftheConvention.
18. Thebanamendment hastoberatified bythree fourths oftheParties. Until now, ithasbeen
ratified onlybyFinland andNorway and,therefore, hasnotyetentered intoforce.
19. Thebanamendment, which wasadopted byconsensus, isbased ontherecognition thatthe
movement ofhazardous wastes, especially todeveloping countries, hasahighriskofnotconstituting
environmentally-sound management ofhazardous wastes. Theconcept ofhighriskofaffecting theWT/CTE/W/55
Page4
environment ispartoftheamendment andwillbeinserted asanewpreambular paragraph inthe
Convention.
20. Thebanisexpected tosupport efforts ofcountries toreduce transboundary movements, to
consolidate policies ontreatment anddisposal ofwastes ascloseaspossible tothesource ofgeneration,
andtoactasanincentive tointroduce cleaner production methods inindustrial processes, which
minimizes thegeneration ofhazardous wastes.