chemical conventions handbook

Each Party shall require that hazardous wastes and other wastes that are being transported to another country to be properly labelled according to international rules and standards (Article 4, paragraph 7 (b)).

The Basel Ban Amendment

In March 1994, 65 Parties to the Basel Convention led by the G-77 group of developing countries and China voted by consensus for a full ban on all exports of hazardous wastes from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries to non-OECD countries.

However, it was argued that the 1994 decision was not legally binding unless it became part of the Basel Convention through amendment. Thus in 1995, a second decision to amend the Convention was also passed by a consensus of the Basel Convention Parties. Annex VII, describing the Parties and other States that are members of OECD, the European Commission (EC) and Liechtenstein is an integral part of the Amendment. It was adopted in 1995 by Decision III/1, amending the Basel Convention.

A new preambular paragraph was added to the Convention which recognised that transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, especially to developing countries, has a high risk of not constituting an environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes as required by this Convention.

A new Article was also included that states "each Party listed in Annex VII shall prohibit all transboundary movements of hazardous wastes which are destined for operations according to Annex IV A, to States not listed in Annex VII" and "each Party listed in Annex VII shall phase out by 31 December 1997, and prohibit as of that date, all transboundary movements of hazardous wastes under Article 1(I)(a) of the Convention, which are destined for operations according to Annex IV B to States not listed in Annex VII. Such transboundary movement shall not be prohibited unless the wastes in question are characterised as hazardous under the Convention."

While the amendments effectively banned (as of 1 January 1998) all forms of hazardous waste exports from the industrialized countries of the OECD to all non-OECD countries, in order for the amendment to enter the force of law it requires 62 countries to ratify it. This number representing 3/4 of the number of Parties present in 1995 when Decision III/1 was made by the COP.

In 2006 the critical number of ratifications required to bring the Ban Amendment into force was reached. However, some Parties have argued that Article 17 of the Convention was not clear with regard to which group of Parties had to meet the 3/4 threshold. The first and most commonly held understanding was that 3/4 of the 82 Parties that were present at the time of Decision III/1 in 1995 would need to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment for it to come into force. This would require the ratification of 62 Parties which has already been achieved.

A counter-argument claiming that the ratification of 3/4 of the full 126 countries that are currently signatories to the Convention is required for entry into force has also been put forward. This would require 126 ratifications.

The dispute can be resolved if the COP decides either of these two interpretations are the correct one. If the Parties cannot resolve the issue then it is determined by the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations. This is likely to result in a third outcome known as the 'current time approach' which required the ratifications of 3/4 of the Parties at any given time (currently this would require 126 ratifications but perhaps more in future).

As of July 2007, the issue has not been resolved by the Parties.