expected to fill out a designated preliminary consultation form and submit this along with related documents, including the invoice, the contract, the domestic transaction voucher, a photograph of the whole item and, where necessary, an analysis of the components and a photograph of the analysis sample. The submitted documents are then used to decide whether the item in question is subject to control under the Basel Law or the Waste Management Law.

### c. Stricter controls at the border

The customs authorities conduct careful examination and inspection at the point from which CRs are shipped overseas, in order to prevent any items regulated under the Basel Law or the Waste Management Law from being exported without compliance with the necessary formalities. A variety of measures have been introduced, such as improving the capacity to collect and analyze information and the upgrading of inspection equipment. For example, a large x-ray container inspection system has been installed at 16 sites across Japan in order to improve the speed and accuracy of container inspection. In the event of discovery of a suspicious cargo during customs examination or inspection, the customs authorities are required to work in close cooperation with MOE and METI to inspect the cargo and take strict measures pursuant to the law.

MOE and METI also cooperate with the customs authorities in the implementation of this policy by proactively providing information and periodically exchanging opinions.

## (b) Clear definition of regulated goods

The Basel Convention allows each country to set up its own criteria for defining the hazardous wastes subject to control, including criteria for deciding toxicity and separating wastes from non-wastes. Therefore, the definition of regulated goods may differ between the importing and exporting countries. To avoid such situations, each country should provide as much objective information as possible in order to decide whether an item being imported or exported is subject to control.

In light of this, the government has provided a list of both regulated and non-regulated items in the form of an official notification based on Basel Convention Annexes VIII and IX. For certain items such as waste lead batteries and waste PET bottles, the government has defined key considerations to be taken into account when determining whether an item should be categorized as waste or specified hazardous waste and has made this information available to both importers and exporters.

To prevent household appliances which are no longer useful from being exported for the nominal purpose of second-hand use, the government will conduct studies to clarify the criteria for identifying exports for second-hand use under the Basel Law.

The government has announced key considerations to be taken into account when distinguishing wastes and determining the toxicity of each category of waste, such as waste lead batteries and waste PET bottles, and has been publicizing this information.

In the future, the government will consider setting the criteria for exports for second-hand use under the Basel Law in order to prevent discarded household appliances that contain hazardous substances and are inappropriate for second-hand use from being exported for this purpose.

## B International efforts

To combat the illegal transboundary movement of waste, Japan has been joining forces with other Asian countries, promoting information exchange for the prevention of illegal waste imports and exports and supporting initiatives to improve the authorities' enforcement capacity.

(a) Asian Network for Prevention of Illegal Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes

In 2003, Japan proposed the idea of establishing an Asian Network for Prevention of Illegal Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes to serve as a framework (network) for improving the capacity to implement the Basel Convention and to foster information exchange between the countries concerned. Since then, Japan has, in cooperation with other Asian countries, been taking various measures to prevent illegal imports and exports, including the hosting of workshops, making country-specific regulatory information available on the web, and

[Asian Network for the Prevention of Illegal Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes]

Source: Ministry of the Environment