19-21 May 2026, Cape Town, South Africa
Background: As a Party to the Basel Convention, South Africa has taken steps towards implementing the Convention and the Plastic Waste Amendments through its national legal and institutional framework. Effective implementation requires strong cooperation among competent authorities, customs administrations, and other enforcement actors involved in monitoring and controlling transboundary movements of wastes. To support these efforts, the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) conventions, in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Basel and Stockholm Conventions Regional Centre in South Africa (BCRC-SCRC South Africa), organized a national training workshop on the enforcement of the Basel Convention and its Plastic Waste Amendments. The workshop was organized with the generous financial support of the Government of Switzerland and the Norwegian Retailers Environment Fund.
Organizers and Partners: The workshop was organized by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) of the Government of the Republic of South Africa, BCRC-SCRC South Africa and the BRS Secretariat.
Working language: English
Meeting objectives: The training aimed to strengthen understanding of the Basel Convention and the Plastic Waste Amendments among national authorities involved in implementation and enforcement, including by:
- Enhancing knowledge of the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure applicable to transboundary movements of wastes;
- Strengthening the capacity of customs officers, environmental authorities and other enforcement actors to identify and classify plastic wastes;
- Enhancing understanding of the provisions on illegal traffic under the Basel Convention and measures to prevent and combat illegal traffic in plastic waste;
- Improving skills related to risk management, profiling, inspection and detection of potentially non-compliant shipments; and
- Promoting cooperation among environmental authorities, customs administrations and other relevant enforcement bodies.
Target audience: The workshop brought together representatives of DFFE, including the competent authority, environmental inspectors, customs officials and other border control authorities.