The review of Annexes I, III, IV and related aspects of Annexes VIII and IX to the Convention was initiated by the Conference of the Parties at its twelfth meeting, by its decision BC-12/1,on the basis of a recommendation from the SIWG on legal clarity that had developed the glossary of terms.
Annex I to the Basel Convention lists the categories of wastes to be controlled under the Basel Convention, including both specific waste categories (Y1 to Y18) and wastes having specific constituents (Y19 to Y45). Annex III to the Basel Convention lists hazardous characteristics (H1 to H13). Annex IV to the Basel Convention lists the disposal operations; it includes two sections, namely section A entitled “Operations which do not lead to the possibility of resource recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct re-use or alternative uses”, and section B entitled “Operations which may lead to resource recovery, recycling, reclamation, direct re-use or alternative uses”. Entry A 1180 of Annex VIII and entry B 1110 of Annex IX to the Basel Convention pertain to electrical and electronic assemblies and include references to disposal operations.
During its thirteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties, in its decision BC-13/2, established the Expert Working Group on the Review of Annexes (EWG) with a mandate and terms of reference as set out in the Annex to that decision.
During its fourteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties, in its decision BC-14/16, extended the mandate of the EWG to also review entry B1110 in Annex IX and the mirror entry A1180 in Annex VIII as well as the consequential implications of the review of Annexes I, III and IV for other annexes of the Convention and for relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties. In its decision, the Conference of the Parties also requested the EWG to continue its work as follows:
During its fifteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted decision BC-15/18: Amendments to Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Basel Convention, pertaining to the e-waste entries A1180 and B1110, thereby completing the work of the expert working on the matter. More information on the E-Waste Amendments can be found here.
Also during its fifteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted decision BC-15/19: Providing further legal clarity, whereby it, among other things:
- 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:
- General introduction, captions and introductory text for sections A and B of Annex IV;
- Keeping, deleting, merging or splitting existing operations;
- Inclusion of new operations – for example, on preparing for reuse and catch-all operations;
- Consideration of non-environmentally sound management operations – for example, open burning;
- Inclusion of clarifying examples;
- 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[1] and the recommendations and findings of the expert working group[2], 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.
More information on the activities of the expert working group during the biennium 2022-2023 can be found here.
During its sixteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted decision BC-16/15: Providing further legal clarity, whereby it, among other things requested the expert working group:
At its seventeenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted an amendment to Annex IV by decision BC-17/15, which will become effective on 1 January 2030. In addition, the Conference of the Parties, in its decision BC-17/16, agreed on some work to be undertaken in follow up to the adoption of the amendment, namely:
- A request to the Secretariat, subject to the availability of resources, to prepare draft revisions to the notification and movement documents and the instructions for completing them as well as draft revisions to the national reporting format and the manual for completing itconsequential to the adoption of the amendments to Annex IV, set out in decision BC‑17/15, for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fifteenth meeting and for consideration and possible adoption by the Conference of the Parties at its eighteenth meeting;
- A request to the Secretariat to identify, for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fifteenth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its eighteenth meeting, consequential implications of the amendment to Annex IV for other documents such as technical guidelines and, if appropriate, the glossary of terms;
- An invitation to Parties to submit to the Secretariat by 30 September 2025 comments on any need to develop explanations, technical guidelines or guidance in relation to the disposal operations in Annex IV for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fifteenth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its eighteenth meeting;
- An invitation to Parties and observers to submit to the Secretariat, by 1 January 2028, their views on whether or not there is the need for, as well as potential suggestions for, including in Annex IV new operations addressed in the revised amendment proposals on Annex IV developed by the expert working group on the review of annexes and discussed but not agreed on at the present meeting of the Conference of the Parties, for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its sixteenth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its nineteenth meeting, with particular consideration given to operations R14, R15, D16 and D17 as referred to in that document, as well as alternative wording for those operations.
In its decision BC-17/17, the Conference of the Parties also agreed on the work to be undertaken by the expert working group, namely to continue to develop draft recommendations on the review of Annexes I and III, taking into account the comments received from Parties and observers on its draft recommendations (status as at 1 December 2023) and discussions at the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its fifteenth meeting (Geneva, week of 22 June 2026) and the Conference of the Parties at its eighteenth meeting (Panama, 19-30 April 2027).
Financial support to the work of the expert working group on the review of Annexes has provided by Germany, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and the European Union.
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