The
Basel Convention on the control of transboundary Movements
of hazardous waste & their disposal was updated unanimously in
1989 by the 116 states participating in the conference of
Plenipotentaries, UNEP convened the conference in Basel,
Switzerland. The final act of the Basel Conference was signed by
105 states & the European Economic Community (EEC). As of
January 1993, 53 states & the EEC had signed the Basel
convention. Fifty one countries ratified or accede to the
convention where entered into force on May 5, 1992. the
Philippines have ratified nationally.
Intense work has been going on with member states of the
EEC and the United States to ensure that these countries, which
are the main generators of hazardous waste, become parties to the
convention.
In
February 1993, the council adopted a regulation on the supervision
and control of shipment of wastes within, into and out if the
European Community. This provides states of the community and EEC
itself with an effective legal tool for implementing the Basel
Convention. In 1992, the senate of the united States Congress gave
its advice and consent for ratified of the Basel Convention. Final
ratification is expected
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The
generation of hazardous wastes as well as their
transboundary movements shall be reduced to a minimum.
The wastes should be disposed of as close as possible to
their source of generation.
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Every
State has the sovereign right to ban the import of
hazardous wastes Parties
to the Convention shall not allow any transboundary
movement of hazardous wastes to a state that has
prohibited their import. Transboundary movements shall
also be prohibited
if
the exporting State has reason to believe that the
wastes in question will not be managed in an
environmentally sound manner.
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A
party shall not permit hazardous wastes to be exported
to a non-party or to be imported from a non-party unless
it is in accordance with bilateral, multilateral, or
regional agreements
or arrangements, the provisions of which are no less
environmentally sound than those of the Basel
Convention.
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The
state of export shall not allow a transboundary movement
of hazardous wastes to commence until it has received
the state of import's written consent, based on prior
detailed information of the state of import, as well as
of any state of transit.
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When
a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes carried out
in accordance with the Convention cannot be completed in
an environmentally sound manner, the state of export has
the duty to ensure re-importation of the wastes.
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Transboundary
movements of hazardous wastes that do not conform to
provisions of the Basel Convention are deemed to be
illegal traffic. The Convention states that
"illegal traffic in hazardous wastes is
criminal." A state responsible for illegal movement
of hazardous wastes has the obligation to ensure their
environmentally sound disposal by re-importing the
wastes or otherwise providing for their disposal. Every
party shall introduce national legislation to prevent
and punish illegal traffic in hazardous wastes.
With
the Basel Convention the world community has the opportunity
to implement a truly global legal instrument dealing the
control of transboundry moments of hazardous wastes
and their disposal. The Basel Convention could contribute
substantially to improving the status worldwide by promoting
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes.
Parties to the convention should cooperate actively with
each other to implement the convention and in particular, to
help developing countries develop sound management practices
and cleaner technology methods.
Provision
of the Basel Convention must therefore, be implemented as
soon as possible, effectively and efficiently in a sprit of
solidarity to be able to truly contributed to solving
hazardous waste management problems worldwide and to render
accessible, practicable and environmentally acceptable
option to deal with hazardous wastes.
National
Regulation:
Hazardous
Waste (Management and Handling) Rule, 1989: This
is a part of Environment (Protection) Acts 86. This rules,
1989 were introduced under section 6,8 and 25 of the
Environment (Protection) act of 1986 (referred to as HWM
Rules, 1989 provide for control of generating collection,
treatment, transport import, storage and disposal of wastes
listed in the schedule annexed to these rules.
Implementation of these rules is done through the SPCBS and
pollution control communities in respective states and union
territories.
