Notifications under the Basel Convention: national definitions of hazardous wastes and restrictions on movements of wastes

Notifications under the Basel Convention: national definitions of hazardous wastes and restrictions on movements of wastes

Notifications under the Basel Convention: national definitions of hazardous wastes and restrictions on movements of wastes

The overarching objective of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes. Under the Basel Convention, Parties have specific obligations to transmit certain information to each other. This includes notifications of national definitions of hazardous wastes in addition to those listed in the annexes of the Convention; and decisions to restrict or prohibit imports and/or exports of hazardous or other wastes. The current leaflet provides information about these notifications in a concise manner.

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Overview

In order to enable monitoring of the implementation of the Basel Convention by its Parties and to present reports on this matter to the Conference of Parties on a regular basis, the Convention establishes a mechanism for Parties to inform each other, as provided for as per Article 13, paragraph 3 (see highlighted text below), of the Basel Convention.

The focal point of the Basel Convention, at the national level, is responsible for receiving and submitting information as provided for in Articles 13 and 16.

Please click here for information on procedure for transmitting National Reports.

Mandate

Article 13 - Transmission of Information

1. The Parties shall, whenever it comes to their knowledge, ensure that, in the case of an accident occurring during the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes or their disposal, which are likely to present risks to human health and the environment in other States, those States are immediately informed.

2. The Parties shall inform each other, through the Secretariat, of:

(a) Changes regarding the designation of competent authorities and/or focal points, pursuant to Article 5;

(b) Changes in their national definition of hazardous wastes, pursuant to Article 3;

and, as soon as possible,

(c) Decisions made by them not to consent totally or partially to the import of hazardous wastes or other wastes for disposal within the area under their national jurisdiction;

(d) Decisions taken by them to limit or ban the export of hazardous wastes or other wastes;

(e) Any other information required pursuant to paragraph 4 of this Article.

3. The Parties, consistent with national laws and regulations, shall transmit, through the Secretariat, to the Conference of the Parties established under Article 15, before the end of each calendar year, a report on the previous calendar year, containing the following information:

(a) Competent authorities and focal points that have been designated by them pursuant to Article 5;

(b) Information regarding transboundary movements of hazardous wastes or other wastes in which they have been involved, including:

(i) The amount of hazardous wastes and other wastes exported, their category, characteristics, destination, any transit country and disposal method as stated on the response to notification;

(ii) The amount of hazardous wastes and other wastes imported their category, characteristics, origin, and disposal methods;

(iii) Disposals which did not proceed as intended;

(iv) Efforts to achieve a reduction of the amount of hazardous wastes or other wastes subject to transboundary movement;

(c) Information on the measures adopted by them in implementation of this Convention;

(d) Information on available qualified statistics which have been compiled by them on the effects on human health and the environment of the generation, transportation and disposal of hazardous wastes or other wastes;

(e) Information concerning bilateral, multilateral and regional agreements and arrangements entered into pursuant to Article 11 of this Convention;

(f ) Information on accidents occurring during the transboundary movement and disposal of hazardous wastes and other wastes and on the measures undertaken to deal with them;

(g) Information on disposal options operated within the area of their national jurisdiction;

(h) Information on measures undertaken for development of technologies for the reduction and/or elimination of production of hazardous wastes and other wastes; and

(i) Such other matters as the Conference of the Parties shall deem relevant.

4. The Parties, consistent with national laws and regulations, shall ensure that copies of each notification concerning any given transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes, and the response to it, are sent to the Secretariat when a Party considers that its environment may be affected by that transboundary movement has requested that this should be done.