The present technical guidelines provide guidance on the environmentally sound management (ESM) of plastic wastes, pursuant to decisions BC-14/13 and BC-15/10 and BC-16/4 of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. This document supersedes the technical guidelines for the identification and environmentally sound management of plastic wastes and for their disposal of December 2002.

Plastic wastes, in the context of these guidelines, covers plastic wastes classified by entries Y48 in Annex II, A3210 in Annex VIII and B3011 in Annex IX to the Basel Convention. Furthermore, the guidelines cover plastic wastes extracted and/or separated from other waste streams that have plastic components or consist partially or fully of plastic (e.g., wastes collected from households (Y46), waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), waste vehicles, waste cables, waste lead-acid batteries and waste textiles for which there are separate related entries in Annexes VIII and IX).

The Guidance on the implementation of paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Basel Convention on transit transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and other wastes is a comprehensive guidance document intended to help Parties with the implementation of the Convention’s prior informed consent procedure in instances where a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes involves one or more transit States. Developed by the Implementation and Compliance Committee, it was adopted by the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in May 2022 by decision BC-15/17. The guidance presents information on the variety of ways in which Parties define a transit State and where to find that information. It then details each step to be taken by Parties in case a proposed transboundary movement may involve one or more such States. Guidance is also provided on specific instances that Parties may encounter in relation to transboundary movements involving a transit State: transit restrictions or prohibitions, and the rerouting of a ship. The guidance further provides information on the relationship between the obligations of Parties pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 6 of the Convention and navigational rights and freedoms. Finally, you will find annex II to the guidance information on the meaning of transit in Customs terminology and in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

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The Guidance to improve the implementation of paragraph 11 of Article 6 of the Basel Convention on insurance, bond and guarantee is a comprehensive guidance document intended to help Parties formulate and implement requirements for insurance, bond or other guarantee applicable to the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes and their disposal. Developed by the Implementation and Compliance Committee, it was adopted by the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in May 2022 by decision BC-15/17. Pursuant to paragraph 11 of Article 6 of the Convention “Any transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes shall be covered by insurance, bond or other guarantee as may be required by the State of import or any State of transit which is a Party.” The guidance presents information on the variety of ways in which Parties have implemented in practice paragraph 11 of Article 6 of the Convention. It also provides specific guidance on how to improve its implementation by addressing a range of issues: who is required to obtain the financial guarantee; what forms of financial guarantee instruments may be used, and who may issue them; what risks and costs should be covered by the financial guarantee; during what period of time does the financial guarantee need to be in force; who should be the beneficiary of the financial guarantee; what amount of funds needs to be guaranteed; what are the prerequisites for requiring disbursement of guaranteed funds; how can compliance with financial guarantee requirements be monitored; and whether and to what extent could or should differences in requirements among the States of export, transit, and import be addressed. While noting the variety in approaches among Parties, the guidance suggests a number of common features and other considerations that could be considered for national implementation schemes.

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The Benchmark report aimed at facilitating reporting under paragraph 3 of Article 13 of the Basel Convention - Examples reflecting Parties’ good practices provides concrete illustrations of what a national report can look like. Pursuant to the Basel Convention, each Party is to transmit to the Secretariat a national report each year. The national report sets out information from the Party in response to a set of questions determined by the Conference of the Parties. The information pertains to both legislative and institutional measures adopted by each Party pertaining to the implementation of the Convention as well as data resulting from the implementation of the Convention, for instance on waste generation, imports and exports, disposal facilities, and cases of illegal traffic. The Conference of the Parties has repeatedly stressed the importance of the transmission of this information, and mandated a range of activities to support the Parties in doing so, from the provision of technical assistance by the Secretariat, to the monitoring of compliance performance by Parties, to the development of guidance. The Benchmark report developed by the Implementation and Compliance Committee is one of the guidance documents Parties can turn to in case of doubt as to how to best formulate an answer to a question in the reporting format.

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The Revised guidance document on improving national reporting by Parties to the Basel Convention provides step-by-step guidance that Parties can follow to overcome challenges with the transmission of national reports. Pursuant to the Basel Convention, each Party is to transmit to the Secretariat a national report each year. The national report sets out information from the Party in response to a set of questions determined by the Conference of the Parties. The information pertains to both legislative and institutional measures adopted by each Party pertaining to the implementation of the Convention as well as data resulting from the implementation of the Convention, for instance on waste generation, imports and exports, disposal facilities, and cases of illegal traffic. The Conference of the Parties has repeatedly stressed the importance of the transmission of this information, and mandated a range of activities to support the Parties in doing so, from the provision of technical assistance by the Secretariat, to the monitoring of compliance performance by Parties, to the development of guidance. The Revised guidance document on improving national reporting developed by the Implementation and Compliance Committee is one of the guidance documents Parties can turn to. It provides information on the challenges Parties may face with the transmission of national reports as well as how to overcome these. It also provides concrete guidance on modalities to engage relevant entities from the public and private sectors that are the keepers of information to be reported.

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The Guide for the development of national legal frameworks to implement the Basel Convention is a comprehensive guidance document intended to help Parties ensure that they have in place adequate legal frameworks to fully implement the Convention. Parties to the Convention have the obligation, pursuant to paragraph 4 of Article 4 to the Convention to “take appropriate legal, administrative and other measures to implement and enforce the provisions of this Convention, including measures to prevent and punish conduct in contravention of the Convention.” Compliance with this requirement is a prerequisite for Parties to be in a position to implement all their obligations under the Convention, yet the work of the Implementation and Compliance Committee has evidenced that many Parties may fall short of doing so, thereby hindering the fulfillment of the Convention’s objectives. The guide developed by the Implementation and Compliance Committee is the primary guidance document Parties can turn to develop new legislation or to review existing legislation. It addresses both in detail the process for drafting legislation and the content of the legislative provisions, including by providing templates that can be used to transpose the Convention’s provisions in national legislation as well as actual examples of Parties’ legislation implementing individual provisions of the Convention.

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This guidance document provides practical and workable guidance for all actors involved in the control of transboundary movements of the wastes subject to the Basel Convention: competent authorities, as well as the various entities involved directly or indirectly in the implementation and enforcement of the Convention (e.g. Customs, port authorities, environmental inspectors, police, prosecutors, judges). The guidance also aims at harmonizing the way Parties deal with illegal traffic as the result of conduct on the part of the exporter or generator (paragraph 2 of Article 9), the importer or disposer (paragraph 3 of Article 9), as well as with cases where the responsibility for the illegal traffic cannot be assigned either to the exporter or generator, or to the importer or disposer (paragraph 4 of Article 9).

It was developed by the Implementation and Compliance Committee with financial support from the EU and its member States as well as Japan, and adopted by the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties in May 2017 (decision BC-13/9).

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The main focus of the glossary of terms is to provide guidance for further legal clarity in relation to the distinction between wastes and non-wastes. This distinction has been a particular problem in relation to cross-border transports of used substances or objects intended for re-use. This glossary includes definitions of terms and further explanations, including in order to explain how certain terms relate to each other. The glossary of terms was adopted by the Conference of the Parties by its decision BC-13/2 in May 2017

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The main objective of the guide is to assist Parties where no statistical data are collected for the purpose of fulfilling their reporting obligations under the Basel Convention, as regards national inventories of hazardous wastes and other wastes. The development of inventories will enable Parties to get information on the status of the generation, transboundary movements and management of hazardous wastes and other wastes in their country.

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The Basel Convention establishes an internationally agreed binding mechanism to control transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and other wastes subject to the Convention. The Convention is required to be implemented into the national law of each party. This Guide has been prepared with a view to providing a user-friendly explanation of the Convention and its control system, and facilitating the implementation of that control system. It is intended for use by persons involved in the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes, in particular waste generators, collectors, exporters, carriers, importers and disposers.

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The manual, including its checklist, is designed to assist Parties and potential Parties to understand the obligations set out in the Convention and how to implement them. It also explores how parties may exercise the discretionary powers afforded to them under the Convention. As an ancillary benefi, it will also assist other stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and individuals, to understand how the Convention works. In particular:

a. The manual takes the reader through provisions of the Convention article by article, and explain what parties need to do to implement the Convention;

b. The checklist (see annex I) provides a concise table listing obligations that parties must, or should, implement in their national legislation.

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These Guidance Elements are intended to provide a practical guide to assist enforcement of national laws implementing the Basel Convention. 

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The current publication provides information on how to manage used and end-of-life mobile phones from the time they are collected up to and including their refurbishment, material recovery and recycling. It has been prepared by the Mobile Phone Working Group and was adopted in its entirety by the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, held in Cartagena, Colombia from 17 to 21 October 2011.

The publication provides general guidance pertaining to the environmentally sound management of used and end-of-life mobile phones that includes such considerations as awareness-raising on design considerations, collection, processing, refurbishment, material recovery and recycling. It also provides guidance on reducing or eliminating releases to the environment from waste disposal and treatment processes. It should be noted that each of these operations should employ best available techniques (BAT) and be in line with best environmental practise (BEP) so that releases of hazardous constituents are prevented or minimized.

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The Basel Convention Instruction Manual on the Prosecution of Illegal Traffic of Hazardous Wastes or Other Wastes manual was developed on the basis of a mandate from the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention and it was adopted by the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (Cartagena, Colombia, 17-21 October 2011). It is intended to provide guidance for those involved in the prosecution of cases of illegal traffic in hazardous and other wastes. Global in scope, it provides practical information that will be particularly relevant for judges and prosecutors in their role in preventing and combating illegal traffic in hazardous and other wastes. The manual seeks to draw upon best practices and provides examples taken from the experience of Parties to the Basel Convention in prosecuting illegal traffic cases.

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