Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa

 

Article 1

Definitions

For the purpose of this Convention:

1. “Wastes”are substances or materials which are disposed of, or are
intended to be disposed of, or are required to be disposed of by the
provisions of national law;

2. “Hazardous wastes”means wastes as specified in Article 2 of this
Convention;

3. “Management”means the prevention and reduction of hazardous wastes
and the collection, transport, storage, and treatment either for the
reuse or disposal, of hazardous wastes including after-care of disposal
sites;

4. “Transboundary movement”means any movement of hazardous wastes from
an area under the national jurisdiction of any State to or through an
area under the national jurisdiction of another State, or to or through
an area not under the national jurisdiction of another State, provided at
least two States are involved in the movement;

5. “Clean production methods”means production or industrial systems
which avoid, or eliminate the generation of hazardous wastes and
hazardous products in conformity with Article 4, section 3 (f) and (g) of
this Convention;

6. “Disposal”means any operation specified in Annex III to this
Convention;

7. “Approved site or facility” means a site or facility for the disposal
of hazardous wastes which is authorized or permitted to operate for this
purpose by a relevant authority of the State where the site or facility
is located;

8. “Competent authority” means one governmental authority designated by
a Party to be responsible, within such geographical areas as the Party
may think fit, for receiving the notification of a transboundary movement
of hazardous wastes and any information related to it, and for responding
to such a notification, as provided in Article 6 of this Convention;

9. “Focal point”means the entity of a Party referred to in Article 5 of
this Convention responsible for receiving and submitting information as
provided for in Articles 13 and 16;

10. “Environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes”means taking
all practicable steps to ensure that hazardous wastes are managed in a
manner which will protect human health and the environment against the
adverse effects which may result from such wastes;

11. “Area under the national jurisdiction of a State”means any land,
marine area or airspace within which a State exercises administrative and
regulatory responsibility in accordance with international law in regard
to the protection of human health or the environment;

12. “State of export”means a Party from which a transboundary movement
of hazardous wastes is planned to be initiated or is initiated;

13. “State of import”means a State to which a transboundary movement is
planned or takes place for the purpose of disposal therein or for the
purpose of loading prior to disposal in an area not under the national
jurisdiction of any State;

14. “State of transit”means any State, other than the State of export
or import, through which a movement of hazardous wastes is planned or
takes place;

15. “States concerned”means States of export or import, or transit
states, whether or not Parties;

16. “Person”means any natural or legal person;

17. “Exporter”means any person under the jurisdiction of the State of
export who arranges for hazardous wastes to be exported;

18. “Importer”means any person under the jurisdiction of the State of
import who arranges for hazardous wastes to be imported;

19. “Carrier”means any person who carries out the transport of
hazardous wastes;

20. “Generator”means any person whose activity produces hazardous
wastes, or, if that person is not known, the person who is in possession
and/or control of those wastes;

21. “Disposer”means any person to whom hazardous wastes are shipped and
who carries out the disposal of such wastes;

22. “Illegal traffic”means any transboundary movement of hazardous
wastes as specified in Article 9 of this Convention;

23. “Dumping at sea”means the deliberate disposal of hazardous wastes
at sea from vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at
sea, and includes ocean incineration and disposal into the seabed and
sub-seabed.

Article 2

Scope of the Convention

1. The following substances shall be “hazardous wastes”for the purposes
of this convention:

(a) Wastes that belong to any category contained in Annex I of this
Convention;

(b) Wastes that are not covered under paragraph (a) above but are
defined as, or are considered to be, hazardous wastes by the
domestic legislation of the Party of export, import or transit;

(c) Wastes which possess any of the characteristics contained in Annex
II of this Convention;

(d) Hazardous substances which have been banned, cancelled or refused
registration by government regulatory action, or voluntarily
withdrawn from registration in the country of manufacture, for
human health or environmental reasons.

2. Wastes which, as a result of being radioactive, are subject to any
international control systems, including international instruments,
applying specifically to radioactive materials, are included in the scope
of this Convention.

3. Wastes which derive from the normal operations of a ship, the
discharge of which is covered by another international instrument, shall
not fall within the scope of this convention.

Article 3

National Definitions of Hazardous Wastes

1. Each State shall, within six months of becoming a Party to this
Convention, inform the Secretariat of the Convention of the wastes, other
than those listed in Annex I of this Convention, considered or defined as
hazardous under its national legislation and of any requirements
concerning transboundary movement procedures applicable to such wastes.

2. Each Party shall subsequently inform the Secretariat of any
significant changes to the information it has provided pursuant to
Paragraph 1 of this Article.

3. The Secretariat shall forthwith inform all Parties of the information
it has received pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article.

4. Parties shall be responsible for making the information transmitted
to them by the Secretariat under Paragraph 3 of this Article available to
their exporters and other appropriate bodies.

Article 4

General Obligations

1. Hazardous Waste Import Ban
All Parties shall take appropriate legal, administrative and other
measures within the area under their jurisdiction to prohibit the import
of all hazardous wastes, for any reason, into Africa from non-Contracting
Parties. Such import shall be deemed illegal and a criminal act. All
Parties shall:

(a) Forward as soon as possible, all information relating to such
illegal hazardous waste import activity to the Secretariat who
shall distribute the information to all Contracting Parties;

(b) Co-operate to ensure that no imports of hazardous wastes from a
non-Party enter a Party to this Convention. To this end, the
Parties shall, at the Conference of the Contracting Parties to this
Convention, consider other enforcement mechanisms.

2. Ban on Dumping of Hazardous Wastes at Sea and Internal Waters

(a) Parties in conformity with related international conventions and
instruments shall, in the exercise of their jurisdiction within
their internal waters, waterways, territorial seas, exclusive
economic zones and Continental Shelf , adopt legal, administrative
and other appropriate measures to control all carriers from
non-Parties, and prohibit the dumping at sea of hazardous wastes,
including their incineration at sea and their disposal in the
seabed and sub-seabed;

Any dumping of hazardous wastes at sea, including incineration at
sea as well as seabed and sub-seabed disposal, by Contracting
Parties, whether in internal waters, waterways, territorial seas,
exclusive economic zones or High Seas shall be deemed to be
illegal;

(b) Parties shall forward, as soon as possible, all information
relating to dumping of hazardous wastes to the Secretariat which
shall distribute the information to all Contracting Parties.

3. Waste Generation in Africa

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa 2, Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa 3, Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa 4, Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa 5, Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa 6, Continental Shelf, High Seas, International Conventions from 1991, Other Environmental conventions, country.