Proposal for a Council Decision on the approval, on behalf of the Community, of the amendment of Annex I and the adoption of new Annexes VIII and IX to the Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (Basel Convention), as laid down in Decision IV/9 of the Conference of the Parties
Date: 1998-11-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European convention, dangerous substance, export of waste, waste disposal

C  409/8

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

30.12.98

II

(Preparatory  Acts)

COMMISSION

Proposal  for  a  Council  Decision  on  the  approval,  on  behalf  of  the  Community,  of  the
amendment  of  Annex  I  and  the  adoption  of  new  Annexes  VIII  and  IX  to  the  Convention  on  the
control  of  transboundary  movements  of  hazardous  wastes  and  their  disposal  (Basel  Convention),
as  laid  down  in  Decision  IV/9  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties

(98/C  409/07)

(Text  with  EEA  relevance)

COM(1998)  634  final  -  98/0307(CNS)

(Submitted  by  the  Commission  on  6  November  1998)

THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  UNION,

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European
Community,  and  in  particular  Article  130r,  paragraph  4,
and  Article  228,  paragraph  2, 
sentence,  and
first 
paragraph  3,  first  subparagraph  thereof,

Having  regard  to  the  proposal  from  the  Commission,

Having 
Parliament,

regard 

to 

the  opinion  of 

the  European

graph  1(a),  of  the  Basel  Convention  ("List  B’)  as  a
further  elaboration  and  clarification  of  the  provisions  of
Article  1,  paragraph  1(a);

Whereas  the  additional  lists  developed  by  the  Technical
Working  Group  are  not  intended  to  be  exhaustive,  and
the  fact  that  a  waste  is  included  in  List  A  does  not
preclude  proof  that  in  a  particular  case  a  waste  is  not
hazardous  pursuant  to  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a),  and
the  fact  that  a  waste  is  on  List  B  does  not  preclude  its
characterisation  as  hazardous  pursuant  to  Article  1,
paragraph  1(a);

the
Whereas,  by  Council  Decision  93/98/EEC(cid:216)(˛), 
European 
the
Economic  Community 
Convention  on  the  control  of  transboundary  movements
of  hazardous  wastes  and 
their  disposal,  commonly
known  as  the  Basel  Convention,  and  became  a  full  Party
to  the  Convention  on  7  May  1994;

approved 

Whereas,  by  virtue  of  a  Council  conclusion  of  7  October
1997,  the  Commission  participated  on  behalf  of  the
Community  in  negotiations  in  the  context  of  the  Fourth
meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Basel
Convention;

instructed 

the  Basel  Convention 

Whereas  Decision  III/1  of  the  Conference  of  the  Parties
the  Basel
to 
Convention’s  Technical  Working  Group  to  give  full
priority  to  the  development  of  lists  for  approval  at  the
Fourth  Conference  of  the  Parties,  and  Decision  III/12  of
the  Conference  of  the  Parties  instructed  the  Technical
Working  Group,  among  other  things,  to  consider  ways
of  taking  forward  the  development  of  lists  of  hazardous
wastes  and  the  applicable  procedure  for  their  review,  as
well  as  further  developing  lists  of  wastes  not  covered  by
the  Basel  Convention;

Whereas  the  Technical  Working  Group  has  developed  a
list  of  wastes 
that  are  characterised  as  hazardous
pursuant  to  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a)  ("List  A’),  and  a
list  of  wastes  that  are  not  covered  by  Article  1,  para(cid:220)

(˛)(cid:217)OJ  L  39,  16.2.1993,  p.  1.

Whereas  on  27  February  1998,  the  Fourth  Conference  of
the  Parties  adopted  Decision  IV/9  introducing  two  new
Annexes  to  the  Convention  to  further  elaborate  and
clarify  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a);  Annex  VIII,  containing
the  wastes  that  are  characterised  as  hazardous,  (List  A  of
the  Technical  Working  Group),  and  Annex 
IX,
containing  the  wastes  that  are  characterised  as  not
covered  by  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a),  of  the  Convention
(List  B  of  the  Technical  Working  Group);  and  intro(cid:220)
ducing  explanatory  notes  as  an  addition  to  Annex  I  to
indicate  that  Annexes  VIII  and  IX  are  not  exhaustive,
but  are  intended  as  an  expeditious  means  of  determining
whether, 
is  hazardous  for  the
purposes  of  the  Convention;

in  principle,  a  waste 

Whereas  pursuant  to  Article  18,  paragraph  2,  c)  of  the
Convention,  the  additional  Annexes  to  the  Convention
will  come  into  force  for  all  Parties  to  the  Convention

30.12.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  409/9

which  have  not  notified  the  Depository  that  they  are
unable  to  accept  an  Annex,  six  months  after  the  date  of
communication  of  the  adoption  of  the  Annexes  by  the
Depository;

of  transboundary  movements  of  hazardous  wastes  and
their  disposal,  as  laid  down  in  Decision  IV/9  adopted  by
the  Conference  of  the  Parties  on  27  February  1998,  is
hereby  approved  on  behalf  of  the  European  Community.

DECIDES  AS  FOLLOWS:

The  text  of  the  amendment  is  attached  to  this  Decision.

Article  1

Article  2

The  amendment  of  Annex  I  and  the  adoption  of  new
Annexes  VIII  and  IX  to  the  Convention  on  the  control

This  Decision  shall  be  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of
the  European  Communities.

Amendment  to  the  Basel  Convention  on  the  control  of  the  transboundary  movements  of
hazardous  wastes  and  their  disposal

Add  the  following  paragraphs  at  the  end  of  Annex  I:

(a)(cid:217)to  facilitate  the  application  of  this  Convention,  and  subject  to  paragraphs  (b),  (c),  and  (d),
wastes  listed  in  Annex  VIII  are  characterised  as  hazardous  pursuant  to  Article  1,  para(cid:220)
graph  1(a),  of  this  Convention,  and  wastes  listed  in  Annex  IX  are  not  covered  by  Article  1,
paragraph  1(a),  of  this  Convention.

(b) Designation  of  a  waste  on  Annex  VIII  does  not  preclude,  in  a  particular  case,  the  use
of  Annex  III  to  demonstrate  that  a  waste  is  not  hazardous  pursuant  to  Article  1,  para(cid:220)
graph  1(a),  of  this  Convention.

(c) Designation  of  a  waste  on  Annex  IX  does  not  preclude,  in  a  particular  case,  characteri(cid:220)
sation  of  such  a  waste  as  hazardous  pursuant  to  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a),  of  this
Convention  if  it  contains  Annex  I  material  to  an  extent  causing  it  to  exhibit  an  Annex  III
characteristic.

(d) Annexes  VIII  and  IX  do  not  affect  the  application  of  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a),  of  this

Convention  for  the  purpose  of  characterisation  of  wastes.

Add  the  following  two  new  annexes:

"Annex  VIII

Wastes  characterised  as  hazardous  under  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a),  of  this  Convention,  and
their  designation  on  this  Annex  does  not  preclude  the  use  of  Annex  III  to  demonstrate  that  a
waste  is  not  hazardous.

A1. Metal  and  metal  bearing  wastes

A2.

.(cid:216).(cid:216).’

"Annex  IX

Wastes  contained  in  this  annex  will  not  be  wastes  covered  by  Article  1,  paragraph  1(a),  of  this
Convention  unless  they  contain  Annex  I  material  to  an  extent  causing  them  to  exhibit  an
Annex  III  characteristic.

B1. Metal  and  metal  bearing  wastes

B2.

.(cid:216).(cid:216).’