Thirteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG-13)

1. Opening of the meeting.

2. Organizational matters:

Item 1

Opening of the meeting

1. The thirteenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal will be held at the Geneva International Conference Centre, 17 rue de Varembé, Geneva, from 21 to 23 February 2022. The meeting will be opened at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 21 February.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 4 of decision BC-15/3, on the strategic framework, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal decided to improve, as appropriate, the strategic framework for the period 2012–2021, taking into account the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the report on the final evaluation of the strategic framework as reflected in the decisions adopted at its fifteenth meeting and the lessons learned in the preparation of the report, especially those pertaining to technical assistance, capacity building, technology transfer and cooperation, including through strengthened and coordinated actions of regional centres.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In part II of decision BC-15/3 on the strategic framework, on work to improve the functioning of the prior informed consent procedure, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal invited Parties and observers to submit to the Secretariat, by 30 November 2022, information on challenges in the implementation of the prior informed consent procedure and on best practices, possible approaches, initiatives and views to improve the functioning of the procedure, recognizing that developing countries faced increasing challenges in implementation of the prior informed consent procedure and that they needed further financial and technical assistance and capacity building to address those challenges.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 2 of decision BC-15/14, on electronic approaches to the notification and movement documents, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal decided to establish a small intersessional working group, operating by electronic means, to look further into electronic approaches to the notification and movement documents, taking into account the report of the first consultative workshop on electronic approaches to the notification and movement documents of the Basel Convention, including the elements for further discussion set out therein, and previous reports prepared on that topic.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 1 of decision BC-15/15, on further consideration of plastic waste, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, took note of the background information related to a possible future assessment of the effectiveness of the measures taken under the Basel Convention to address plastic waste and to possible further activities that could be conducted under the Convention

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In decision BC-15/18, on amendments to Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention decided to amend Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Basel Convention in relation to electrical and electronic waste (hereinafter referred to as the e-waste amendments).

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In decision BC-15/19, on providing further legal clarity, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal recalled the mandate of the expert working group on the review of the annexes to the Convention, as set out in decisions BC-13/2, BC 14/13 and BC-14/16, and decided to remove the review of entries A1180 in Annex VIII and B1110 in Annex IX from the mandate of the group.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In section I, paragraphs 2 and 5 of decision BC-15/22 on the Basel Convention Partnership Programme, on the Follow-up Partnership to the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal adopted the amendments to the terms of reference of the Partnership, including the new name of the Partnership, and the programme of work for the biennium 2022–2023 of the working group of the Partnership, and requested the working group of the Partnership to implement the activities in the programme of work. In paragraph 3 of the decision, the Conference of the Parties invited Parties, signatories and all other stakeholders, including manufacturers, recyclers, refurbishers, academia, relevant e-waste platforms, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, and former partners of the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment to communicate to the Secretariat no later than 31 August 2022 their wish to be admitted as a member of the working group of the Partnership.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 3 (a) of decision BC-14/9, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal requested the Secretariat to submit to the World Customs Organization a proposal for amending the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (hereinafter the Harmonized System) to allow the identification of 13 types of wastes, eight of which were to be afforded higher priority and five of which were to be afforded medium priority.