Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, at the Eleventh Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, with regard to amendments to the list of waste contained in Annex IX (List B) of this Convention
Date: 2013-02-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: export of waste, hazardous waste, international convention, revision of an agreement, waste disposal

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 22.2.2013  
COM(2013) 93 final 

2013/0055 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, at the Eleventh 
Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary 
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, with regard to amendments to the 
list of waste contained in Annex IX (List B) of this Convention  

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  Basel  Convention  on  the  Control  of  Transboundary  Movements  of  Hazardous 
Wastes  and  Their  Disposal,  done  on  22  March  1989  (the  "Basel  Convention"), 
establishes  a  control  procedure  for  the  export  and  import  of  hazardous  wastes 
between  Parties.  The  Convention  entered  into  force  in  1992  and  now  binds  175 
Parties. The EU is a Party to the Basel Convention. 

The  procedure  for  amending  annexes  of  the  Basel  Convention  is  governed  by 
Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention. Any proposed amendment must be made by a 
Party  and  communicated  by  the  Secretariat  to  all  Parties  at  least  six  months  before 
the  meeting  at  which  it  is  proposed  for  adoption.  Any  such  amendment  must  be 
adopted at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties and may become effective six 
months from the date of issuance of a circular notification by the Depositary. 

Annex IX to the Basel Convention contains a list of waste. The waste listed will not 
be covered by Article 1, paragraph 1(a) of the Convention and thus not considered as 
"hazardous waste" for the purposes of the Convention, unless they contain Annex I 
material  to  an  extent  causing  them  to  exhibit  an  Annex  III  characteristic.  Annex  I 
lists categories of waste to be controlled (waste streams) and constituents of waste. 
Annex III contains a list of hazardous characteristics. 

The following five applications for new entries in Annex IX (List B) to the Basel 
Convention were submitted in January and February 2011: 

(a) Non-separable plastic fraction from the pre-treatment of used liquid packages; 
(b) Pressure sensitive adhesive label laminate waste containing raw materials used in 
label material production not covered by entry B3020 in Annex IX; 
(c) Non-separable plastic-aluminium fraction from the pre-treatment of used liquid 
packages;  
(d) Clean biodegradable waste from agriculture, horticulture, forestry, gardens, parks 
and cemeteries;  
(e) Composite packaging consisting of mainly paper and some plastic, not containing 
residues and not covered by entry B3020 in Annex IX. 

The above waste entries were added to Annex IIIB of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 
of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  14  June  2006  on  shipments  of 
waste1, on a provisional basis pending a decision on their inclusion in Annex IX (List 
B) to the Basel Convention.  This  decision was adopted by Commission Regulation 
(EU)  No  135/2012  amending  Regulation  (EC)  No  1013/2006  to  include  certain 
unclassified wastes in Annex IIIB thereto2. 

The Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) at its eighth meeting on 25-28 September 
2012  took  note  of  the  proposed  amendments.  Following  discussions  on  these 
proposals, the OEWG, in paragraph 2 of its decision OEWG-8/6, agreed to forward 
to  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Basel  Convention  for  consideration  at  its 
Eleventh Meeting in May 2013 (COP-11) the following draft entry to Annex IX of 
the Convention: 

1 
2 

OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p.1 
OJ L 46, 17.2.2012, p.30. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

                                                 
"B3075  Natural  plant-based  biomass  waste  from  agriculture,  horticulture,  forestry, 
gardens,  parks  and  cemeteries,  not  containing  Annex  I  materials  in  concentrations 
sufficient to exhibit Annex III characteristics and not containing invasive species". 

In  paragraph  3  of  decision  OEWG-8/6,  the  OEWG  also  took  note  of  the  following 
possible alternative draft entry to Annex IX to the Convention, to be considered by 
COP-11,  in  which  four  of  the  proposals  may  be  merged,  while  noting  that  the 
proposed amendment on label laminate waste may or may not be integrated: 

"B3025  Composite  packaging  consisting  [mainly]  of  paper,  plastic  and  aluminium 
[and fractions containing these materials] from the pre-treatment of such packaging [, 
including [pressure sensitive adhesive] label laminate waste], not containing residues 
and not containing Annex I materials in concentrations sufficient to exhibit Annex III 
characteristics".  

6. 

COP-11 may decide to include in Annex IX (List B) to the Convention, any of the 
waste  entries  proposed  in  the  above  applications,  or  any  of  the  waste  entries 
forwarded by the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) at its eighth meeting, or any 
of the above entries containing modifications. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

2013/0055 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, at the Eleventh 
Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary 
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, with regard to amendments to the 
list of waste contained in Annex IX (List B) of this Convention  

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 191(1), in conjunction with Article 218(9), thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

The  Basel  Convention  on  the  Control  of  Transboundary  Movements  of  Hazardous 
Wastes and Their Disposal entered into force in 1992.  

Pursuant  to  Articles  17  and  18  of  the  Basel  Convention,  amendments  to  this 
Convention shall be adopted at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties.  

Five applications for new waste entries in Annex IX (List B) to the Convention were 
submitted  in  January  and  February  2011.  These  entries  have  been  added,  on  a 
provisional  basis  pending  a  decision  on  their  inclusion  in  Annex  IX  (List  B)  to  the 
Convention  to  Annex  IIIB  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1013/2006  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste3 by Commission 
Regulation  (EU)  No  135/2012  amending  Regulation  (EC)  No  1013/2006  to  include 
certain unclassified wastes in Annex IIIB thereto4. 

Having  taken  note  of  the  submitted  proposals,  the  Open-ended  Working  Group 
(OEWG)  at  its  eighth  meeting  on  25-28  September  2012  agreed  to  forward  to  the 
Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Basel  Convention  for  consideration  at  its  Eleventh 
Meeting two draft entries to Annex IX of the Convention. 

The Eleventh Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention may decide to include 
in  Annex  IX  (List  B)  to  the  Convention,  any  of  the  waste  entries  proposed  in  the 
applications, or any of the waste entries forwarded by the Open-ended Working Group 
(OEWG) at its eighth meeting, or any of the above entries containing modifications. 

3 
4 

OJ L 190, 12.7.2006, p.1 
OJ L 46, 17.2.2012, p.30. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

                                                 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

The position to be taken by the European Union at the Eleventh Conference of the Parties to 
the Basel Convention shall be to include in Annex IX (List B) to the Convention any of the 
waste entries as proposed in the applications submitted, or any of the waste entries forwarded 
by the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) at its eighth meeting, or any of the above entries 
containing appropriate modifications. 

Minor  changes  to  this  position  may  be  agreed  to  by  the  representatives  of  the  Union  at  the 
Eleventh  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Basel  Convention  without  further  decision  by  the 
Council.  

Article 2 

After  its  adoption,  the  Decision  of  the  Eleventh  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the  Basel 
Convention  as  regards  the  amendments  of  Annex  IX  (list  B)  to  the  Convention  shall  be 
published in the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 3 

This Decision shall enter into force on […]. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

5 

   EN