1. International Transfer of Restricted or Prohibited Substances

Abstract

The number of parties to the Basel Convention has been gradually increasing over the years. This year, one new state—Tuvalu—joined the Basel Convention, bringing its number of parties to 188. The Amendments to Annexes II, VIII, and IX to the Basel Convention entered into force on 24 March. In the case of the Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, its number of parties remains at twelve, which means that the protocol has not yet entered into force. Sierra Leone ratified the 1995 Amendment to the Basel Convention, bringing its number of parties to ninety-nine (see Status of Ratifications <http://www.basel.int/Countries/StatusofRatifications/tabid/1341/Default.aspx>). The twelfth meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG-12) was postponed and held according to two components, consisting of an online segment and a face-to-face segment, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The online segment was held on 1–3 September. Representatives of 120 countries took part in the virtual meeting of the OEWG-12. A total of more than six hundred people attended the meeting, including representatives of state parties and observers. Various technical, policy, and legal documents were briefly reviewed, including draft reports, guidelines, technical guidelines, and recommendations. Final versions of these documents will be considered at the face-to-face segment of the OEWG-12 in 2022 and at the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the Basel Convention, scheduled to be held in July 2021.