Twelfth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG-12)

The Open-ended Working Group,

Recalling that, in part I of decision BC-14/19 on the follow-up partnership to the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (hereinafter “the Partnership”), the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal established a working group of the Partnership that would operate under the guidance of the Open ended Working Group,

Introduction

1. In the light of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it was not possible to convene the twelfth meeting of the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal in Geneva from 22 to 25 June 2020, as had originally been planned. Instead, the Bureau of the Open-ended Working Group agreed that, as an exceptional measure owing to the pandemic, the meeting would be held in two segments, consisting of an online segment and a face-to-face segment.

Introduction

1. Owing to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it was not possible to convene the twelfth meeting of the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal in Geneva from 22 to 25 June 2020, as had originally been planned. Instead, the Bureau of the Open-ended Working Group agreed that, as an exceptional measure, the meeting would be held in two segments – an online segment and a face-to-face segment. The online segment was held from 1 to 3 September 2020. The face-to-face segment, conducted in a format enabling both in-person and online participation, was held from 4 to 6 April 2022. Comprising of discussions in both plenary and contact group settings, it focused on a set of prioritized agenda items in preparation for the resumed fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to be held in Geneva from 6 to 17 June 2022.

1. Opening of the meeting.

2. Organizational matters:

Item 1

Opening of the meeting

1. Because of the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, on 9 July 2020, the Bureau of the twelfth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG-12) of the Basel Convention agreed to hold OEWG-12 in two components, consisting of an online segment and a face-to-face segment. The online segment was comprised of online sessions held over two days, on Tuesday, 1 September 2020 and on Thursday, 3 September 2020. Through a written procedure after the OEWG-12 Bureau meeting on 18 November 2021, the Bureau agreed that the face-to-face segment of OEWG-12 would be held in Nairobi over three days from Monday, 4 April to Wednesday, 6 April 2022, and that it would focus on a set of prioritized agenda items for which progress could be made during the face-to-face segment of the meeting and in advance of the face-to-face segment of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Geneva, 6 to 17 June 2022).

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In its decision BC-14/1, on the strategic framework for the implementation of the Basel Convention for 2012–2021, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal welcomed the work undertaken by the small intersessional working group on the strategic framework and requested the regional group that had not yet nominated a second expert to serve as a member of the working group to nominate the remaining expert by 31 July 2019.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraphs 4, 8 and 9 of decision BC-14/3, on developing guidelines for environmentally sound management, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal welcomed the draft practical manual for stakeholders to ensure that notifications of transboundary movements met environmentally sound management requirements, invited Parties and others to submit comments on the draft practical manual to the Secretariat by 30 June 2019, and requested the Secretariat to prepare a further revised version of the manual, taking into account the comments from Parties and others, and to submit it for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its twelfth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting.

Note by the Secretariat

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

A. Introduction

1. In paragraph 2 of decision BC-14/4, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal adopted five technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (UNEP/CHW.14/7/Add.1/Rev.1, UNEP/CHW.14/7/Add.2/Rev.1, UNEP/CHW.14/7/Add.3/Rev.1, UNEP/CHW.14/7/Add.4/Rev.1, UNEP/CHW.14/7/Add.5/Rev.1).

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 6 (e) of its decision BC-14/10, on national reporting, 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 develop, subject to the availability of resources, draft practical guidance on the development of inventories for the following waste streams for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its twelfth meeting and the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting:

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 3 of its decision BC-14/11, 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 invited Parties and others to provide to the Secretariat, by 30 September 2019, information on their experiences in developing and implementing electronic systems for exchanging information on or controlling the movements of goods and wastes, and on experts who could contribute to consultative workshops to explore options for a system under the Basel Convention that would allow for the automation of processes and the electronic exchange of information relating to the notification and movement of hazardous and other wastes, their expected benefits and requirements, and possible steps towards their implementation.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. By its decision BC-14/12, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal amended Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Convention. Except for those Parties that have, before 24 March 2020, notified the depositary that they are unable to accept the amendments, the new entries Y48 in Annex II, A3210 in Annex VIII and B3011 in Annex IX become effective as of 1 January 2021, while entry B3010 is effective until 31 December 2020.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 4 of its decision BC-14/14, on waste containing nanomaterials, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal invited Parties and others to make available to the Secretariat, by 31 December 2019, information related to activities aimed at addressing issues related to waste containing nanomaterials, including case studies about and best practices relating to the management of waste containing nanomaterials.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In its decision BC-14/15, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal approved the work programme of the Committee Administering the Mechanism for Promoting Implementation and Compliance of the Basel Convention for the biennium 2020–2021 set out in the annex to that decision.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. By its decision BC-14/16, 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, among other things, took note of the recommendations for revisions to Annex IV and Annex IX (B1110) prepared by the expert working group on the review of Annexes I, III and IV and related aspects of Annex IX to the Convention and invited Parties and others to submit to the Secretariat by 15 July 2019 further views on the recommendations for revisions to Annex IV; extended the mandate of the expert working group to also review entry B1110 in Annex IX and the mirror entry A1180 in Annex VIII, based on the group’s work on entry B1110 thus far; requested the expert working group to continue its work on the basis of the way forward set out in the annex to that decision which provided, among other things, that amendment proposals to Annex IV, Annex VIII (A1180) and Annex IX (B1110) would be presented and discussed by the Open ended Working Group at its twelfth meeting and that any such proposals would be negotiated and possibly adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting; and extended the mandate of the expert working group to also review the consequential implications of the review of Annexes I, III and IV for other annexes to the Convention and for relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties, inter alia, for the notification and movement documents and the reporting format, and to report on its findings on the possible consequential implications of the review of Annex IV following its own consideration of the matter to the Open ended Working Group at its twelfth meeting.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In its decision BC-13/9, on the Committee Administering the Mechanism for Promoting Implementation and Compliance, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal adopted revisions to the reporting format for the year 2016 and onwards, including by adding an optional question 3h seeking information on whether the Party had a definition of “State of transit” in its national legislation. In its decision BC-14/10, on national reporting, the Conference of the Parties adopted further revisions to the reporting format for use for the year 2018 and onward, including by adding a question seeking information on whether the Party otherwise had a definition of “State of transit” (e.g., in a guidance document).

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In its decision BC-14/19, on the Basel Convention Partnership Programme, in paragraph 4 of section I, 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 established a working group of the follow-up Partnership to operate under the guidance of the Open ended Working Group. In paragraph 5 of the decision, it invited Parties, signatories and all other stakeholders to indicate to the Secretariat, no later than 30 September 2019, their interest in participating in the working group of the Partnership. In paragraph 7 of the decision, the Conference of the Parties requested the working group of the Partnership to prepare a revised version of the terms of reference and the programme of work set out, respectively, in annexes II and III to document UNEP/CHW.14/INF/30, including by prioritizing tasks in the programme of work and outlining the structure of the leadership of the follow-up Partnership, taking into account comments from Parties and others, and to submit the updated documents for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group at its twelfth meeting. By paragraph 8 of the decision, the Open ended Working Group was mandated to adopt, at its twelfth meeting, the terms of reference and the programme of work of the follow-up Partnership on behalf of the Conference of the Parties. Finally, the working group of the Partnership was requested, by paragraph 9 of the decision, to undertake the activities in the programme of work, starting with two priority activities, namely the translation of the current guidance documents into additional languages and dissemination activities, and to report on its progress to the Open ended Working Group at its twelfth meeting.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. In paragraph 3 (a) of its 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, 8 of which were to be afforded higher priority and 5 of which were to be afforded medium priority.

Note by the Secretariat

I. Introduction

1. At its fifteenth meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal is expected to adopt the work programme of the Open-ended Working Group for the biennium 20222023. In preparation for that process, and in accordance with its usual practice, the Secretariat has prepared a draft work programme for consideration by the Working Group at its twelfth meeting (see annex).

Note by the Secretariat

1. The annex to the present note sets out a compilation of proposed actions to be considered for possible adoption by the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal at its twelfth meeting under agenda items 3 and 4.

Introduction

1. In the light of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it was not possible to convene the twelfth meeting of the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal in Geneva from 22 to 25 June 2020, as had originally been planned. Instead, the Bureau of the Open-ended Working Group agreed that, as an exceptional measure owing to the pandemic, the meeting would be held in two segments, consisting of an online segment and a face-to-face segment.

Introduction

1. Owing to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it was not possible to convene the twelfth meeting of the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal in Geneva from 22 to 25 June 2020, as had originally been planned. Instead, the Bureau of the Open-ended Working Group agreed that, as an exceptional measure, the meeting would be held in two segments – an online segment and a face-to-face segment. The online segment was held from 1 to 3 September 2020. The face-to-face segment, conducted in a format enabling both in-person and online participation, was held from 4 to 6 April 2022. Comprising of discussions in both plenary and contact group settings, it focused on a set of prioritized agenda items in preparation for the resumed fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, to be held in Geneva from 6 to 17 June 2022.

Note by the Secretariat

Introduction

1. Because of the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, on 9 July 2020, the Bureau of the twelfth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 12) of the Basel Convention agreed to hold OEWG 12 in two components, consisting of an online segment and a face to face segment. The online segment was comprised of online sessions held over two days, on Tuesday, 1 September 2020 and on Thursday, 3 September 2020. Through a written procedure after the OEWG 12 Bureau meeting on 18 November 2021, the Bureau agreed that the face to face segment of OEWG 12 would be held in Nairobi over three days from Monday, 4 April to Wednesday, 6 April 2022, and that it would focus on a set of prioritized agenda items for which progress could be made during the face to face segment of the meeting and in advance of the face to face segment of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Geneva, 617 June 2022).