Glion sur Montreux, Switzerland, 21 - 23 January 2013

Venue: Hotel Victoria, Route de Caux 16, CH-1823 Glion sur Montreux, Switzerland

The Governments of Switzerland and Japan are kindly co-funding the third meeting which will be opened at 9.00 a.m. on Monday, 21 January 2013.

The meeting will be paperless and in English only: printed documents will not be available, all pre-session documents will be made available on the Convention website and in-session documents will be circulated electronically via a wireless intranet.

Highlights: The Technical Expert Group will further develop the draft framework for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and other wastes building on progress made at its first and second face- to-face meetings. The draft framework is to be submitted to the Conference of the Parties at its eleventh meeting for consideration and possible adoption.

More information, including the meeting schedule, will shortly be made available on the web page of the technical expert group.

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Geneva, Switzerland, 30 September - 2 October 2012

Venue: International Environment House II (IEH-2), 7-9, Chemin de Balexert, 1219, Châtelaine-Geneva, Switzerland.

Highlights: The Technical Expert Group further developed the daft framework for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and other wastes building on progress made at its first face- to-face meeting and at a follow-up online meeting. The Technical Expert Group shall also be guided by the outcome of and discussions at the eighth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group to be held from 25 to 29 September 2012, as far as possible.

More information, including the meeting schedule, is available on the page of the technical expert group and within document UNEP/CHW/OEWG.8/INF/8.

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Tokyo, Japan, 17 - 19 April 2012

The Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, is to host the first meeting of the technical expert group to complete the development of a framework for the environmentally sound management of hazardous and other wastes.  The meeting will take place from 17 to 19 April 2012 at the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so (10-8, Sekiguchi 2-chome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8680, Japan).

At its tenth meeting, held from 17 to 21 October 2011 in Cartagena, Colombia, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention adopted decision BC-10/3 on the Indonesian-Swiss country-led initiative to improve the effectiveness of the Basel Convention.

Section B of this decision notes that a more systematic and comprehensive effort is needed to improve guidance on environmentally sound management of wastes and suggests actions to complete the development of a framework for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and other wastes, including consideration of ways in which the framework and its elements might be linked to the issue of transboundary movement of hazardous and other wastes.

The decision further mandates a technical expert group, consisting of members nominated by Parties based on equitable geographical representation of the five regional groups of the United Nations, to undertake the work to develop the abovementioned framework. The group, which is also open to observers, may call on additional experts as needed. Accordingly, each regional group was requested to nominate through its Bureau representative six members with specific knowledge and expertise in the field.

Invitations to the first meeting of the technical expert group have now been sent to the nominated members of the group.  Those wishing to register for the meeting as observers should view the communication recently issued by the Secretariat on this matter.

Further information on the meeting, including the composition of the Technical Expert Group and meeting documents, can be accessed here.