Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

 

Article 4
General Obligations

1.(a) Parties exercising their right to prohibit the import of hazardous
wastes or other wastes for disposal shall inform the other Parties of their
decision pursuant to Article 13.

(b) Parties shall prohibit or shall not permit the export of hazardous
wastes and other wastes to the Parties which have prohibited the import of
such wastes, when notified pursuant to subparagraph (a) above.

(c) Parties shall prohibit or shall not permit the export of hazardous
wastes and other wastes if the State of import does not consent in writing
to the specific import, in the case where that State of import has not
prohibited the import of such wastes.

2. Each Party shall take the appropriate measures to:

(a) Ensure that the generation of hazardous wastes and other wastes
within it is reduced to a minimum, taking into account social,
technological and economic aspects;

(b) Ensure the availability of adequate disposal facilities, for the
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and other
wastes, that shall be located, to the extent possible, within it,
whatever the place of their disposal;

(c) Ensure that persons involved in the management of hazardous wastes or
other wastes within it take such steps as are necessary to prevent
pollution due to hazardous wastes and other wastes arising from such
management and, if such pollution occurs, to minimize the
consequences thereof for human health and the environment;

(d) Ensure that the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other
wastes is reduced to the minimum consistent with the environmentally
sound and efficient management of such wastes, and is conducted in a
manner which will protect human health and the environment against
the adverse effects which may result from such movement;

(e) Not allow the export of hazardous wastes or other wastes to a State
or group of States belonging to an economic and/or political
integration organization that are Parties, particularly developing
countries, which have prohibited by their legislation all imports, or
if it has reason to believe that the wastes in question will not be
managed in an environmentally sound manner, according to criteria to
be decided on by the Parties at their first meeting.

(f) Require that information about a proposed transboundary movement of
hazardous wastes and other wastes be provided to the States
concerned, according to Annex V A, to state clearly the effects of
the proposed movement on human health and the environment;

(g) Prevent the import of hazardous wastes and other wastes if it has
reason to believe that the wastes in question will not be managed in
an environmentally sound manner;

(h) Co-operate in activities with other Parties and interested
organizations, directly and through the Secretariat, including the
dissemination of information on the transboundary movement of
hazardous wastes and other wastes, in order to improve the
environmentally sound management of such wastes and to achieve the
prevention of illegal traffic;

3. The Parties consider that illegal traffic in hazardous wastes or other
wastes is criminal.

4. Each Party shall 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.

5. A Party shall not permit hazardous wastes or other wastes to be exported
to a non-Party or to be imported from a non-Party.

6. The Parties agree not to allow the export of hazardous wastes or other
wastes for disposal within the area south of 60 degrees South latitude,
whether or not such wastes are subject to transboundary movement.

7. Furthermore, each Party shall:

(a) Prohibit all persons under its national jurisdiction from
transporting or disposing of hazardous wastes or other wastes unless such
persons are authorized or allowed to perform such types of operations;

(b) Require that hazardous wastes and other wastes that are to be the
subject of a transboundary movement be packaged, labelled, and transported
in conformity with generally accepted and recognized international rules
and standards in the field of packaging, labelling, and transport, and that
due account is taken of relevant internationally recognized practices;

(c) Require that hazardous wastes and other wastes be accompanied by a
movement document from the point at which a transboundary movement
commences to the point of disposal.

8. Each Party shall require that hazardous wastes or other wastes, to be
exported, are managed in an environmentally sound manner in the State of
import or elsewhere. Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound
management of wastes subject to this Convention shall be decided by the
Parties at their first meeting.

9. Parties shall take the appropriate measures to ensure that the
transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes only be allowed
if:

(a) The State of export does not have the technical capacity and the
necessary facilities, capacity or suitable disposal sites in order to
dispose of the wastes in question in an environmentally sound and efficient
manner; or

(b) The wastes in question are required as a raw material for recycling
or recovery industries in the State of import; or

(c) The transboundary movement in question is in accordance with other
criteria to be decided by the Parties, provided those criteria do not
differ from the objectives of this Convention.

10. The obligation under this Convention of States in which hazardous
wastes and other wastes are generated to require that those wastes are
managed in an environmentally sound manner may not under any circumstances
be transferred to the States of import or transit.

11. Nothing in this Convention shall prevent a Party from imposing
additional requirements that are consistent with the provisions of this
Convention, and are in accordance with the rules of international law, in
order better to protect human health and the environment.

12. Nothing in this Convention shall affect in any way the sovereignty of
States over their territorial sea established in accordance with
international law, and the sovereign rights and the jurisdiction which
States have in their exclusive economic zones and their continental shelves
in accordance with international law, and the exercise by ships and
aircraft of all States of navigational rights and freedoms as provided for
in international law and as reflected in relevant international
instruments.

13. Parties shall undertake to review periodically the possibilities for
the reduction of the amount and/or the pollution potential of hazardous
wastes and other wastes which are exported to other States, in particular
to developing countries.

Article 5
Designation of Competent Authorities and Focal Point

To facilitate the implementation of this Convention, the Parties shall:

1. Designate or establish one or more competent authorities and one focal
point. One competent authority shall be designated to receive the
notification in case of a State of transit.

2. Inform the Secretariat, within three months of the date of the entry
into force of this Convention for them, which agencies they have designated
as their focal point and their competent authorities.

3. Inform the Secretariat, within one month of the date of decision, of any
changes regarding the designation made by them under paragraph 2 above.

 

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.