Basel Convention
The Basel Convention (verbose: Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal) is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent dumping of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). The Convention is also intended to minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist LDCs in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.
The Convention was opened for signature on March 22, 1989, and entered into force on May 5, 1992. A list of parties to the Convention, and their ratification status, can be found on the Basel Secretariat's web page. Of the 166 parties to the Convention, Afghanistan, Haiti, and the United States have signed the Convention but have not yet ratified it.
History
With the tightening of environmental laws (e.g., RCRA) in developed nations in the 1970s, disposal costs for hazardous waste rose dramatically. At the same time, globalization of shipping made transboundary movement of waste more accessible, and many LDCs were desperate for foreign currency. Consequently, the trade in hazardous waste, particularly to LDCs, grew rapidly.
One of the incidents which led to the creation of the Basel Convention was the Khian Sea waste disposal incident, in which a ship carrying incinerator ash from the city of Philadelphia in the United State after having dumped half of its load on a beach in Haiti, was forced away where it sailed for many months, changing its name several times unable to unload its cargo in any port, and ended up dumping much of it illegally at sea.
Basel Ban Amendment
After the initial adoption of the Convention, some LDCs and environmental organizations argued that it did not go far enough. Many nations and NGOs argued for a total ban on shipment of all hazardous waste to LDCs. In particular, the original Convention did not prohibit waste exports to any location except Antactica but merely required a notification and consent system known as "prior informed consent" or PIC. Further, many waste traders sought to exploit the good name of recycling and begin to justify all exports as moving to recycling destinations. Many believed af full ban was needed including exports for recycling. These concerns led to several regional waste trade bans, including the Bamako Convention.
Lobbying at the 1995 Basel conference by LDCs, Greenpeace and key European countries such as Denmark, led to a decision to adopt the Basel Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention. Not yet in force, but considered morally binding by signatories, the Amendment prohibits the export of hazardous waste from a list of developed (mostly OECD) countries to developing countries. The Basel Ban applies to export for any reason, including recycling. An area of special concern for advocates of the Amendment was the sale of ships for salvage, shipbreaking. The Ban Amendment was strenuously opposed by a number of industry groups as well as nations including the United States and Canada. As of late-2005, 61 nations have ratified the Basel Ban Amendment; 62 are required for it to enter into force. The status of the amendment ratifications can be found on the Basel Secretariat's web page. The European Union fully implemented the Basel Ban in its Waste Shipment Regulation (EWSR), making it legally binding in all EU member states.
References
- CIA World Factbook, 2003 edition
- Toxic Exports, Jennifer Clapp, Cornell University Press, 2001.
- Basel Action Network website (www.ban.org)