Activities 2022-2023

The activities undertaken by the Expert Working Group on the review of Annexes during the biennium 2022-2023 are based on mandates set out in decision BC-15/19.

By its decision BC-15/19 the Conference of the Parties, among other things:

• Welcomes the work undertaken by the expert working group on the review of Annexes I, III and IV and entries A1180 in Annex VIII and B1110 in Annex IX;
• Takes note of the information on the work of the expert working group; of the group’s recommendations on proposals for possible amendments to Annex IV and to entries A1180 in Annex VIII and B1110 in Annex IX to the Basel Convention and its findings on the consequential implications of the review of Annex IV to the Convention, reflecting the outcome of its fourth meeting; of the draft versions of the notification document, the movement document, the instructions for completing both documents, the national reporting format and the manual for completing the format for national reporting, showing where adjustments may need to be made as a consequence of possible amendments to Annex IV; and of progress made in the review of Annexes I and III;
• Recalls the mandate of the expert working group as set out in decisions BC-13/2, BC 14/13 and BC-14/16 and decides to remove the review of entries A1180 in Annex VIII and B1110 in Annex IX from the mandate of the group;
• Acknowledges the need for further discussion on amendments to Annex IV – for example, on the following issues, among others, which were discussed during the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties:

1. General introduction, captions and introductory text for sections A and B of Annex IV;
2. Keeping, deleting, merging or splitting existing operations;
3. Inclusion of new operations – for example, on preparing for reuse and catch-all operations;
4. Consideration of non-environmentally sound management operations – for example, open burning;
5. Inclusion of clarifying examples;
6. Ordering and numbering of the operations;

• Requests the Open-ended Working Group to consider the proposals by the European Union to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II and IX to the Basel Convention and the recommendations and findings of the expert working group, taking into account the discussions at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as well as the progress made in the review of Annexes I and III, and to provide recommendations for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting.

In a 19 September 2022 Communication, the Secretariat made available to Parties and observers the expert working group’s [draft] recommended options for possible amendments to Annex I to the Convention (status 15 September 2022) and [draft] recommended options for possible amendments to Annex III to the Convention (status 15 September 2022) and invited comments thereon as well as on whether de minimis concentration values, concentration limit values and cut-off values should be established in Annex III to the Basel Convention, by 17 October 2022. The views received are set out in the table below.