The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal: The Basel Convention at a Glance

Abstract

The Basel Convention, adopted in 1989 and in force since 1992, is the sole global treaty on waste management. Negotiated in response to scandals involving illicit exports from developed to developing countries in the 1980s, its objective is to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of the generation and management of hazardous and other wastes. The Convention establishes a control system for transboundary waste movement, which is based on the requirement of prior informed consent (PIC) to every intended movement, by the prospective states of import and transit, as a prerequisite to the movement being initiated. It also imposes a general obligation on parties to ensure environmentally sound management of all hazardous and other wastes wherever they are located, and obliges parties to combat illegal traffic and to reimport or otherwise dispose of illegally exported wastes. The Convention’s institutional infrastructure is the same as that of all modern multilateral environmental agreements, consisting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) as the supreme organ, a number of subsidiary bodies, and the secretariat (joint with the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions since 2011). The COP has designated the following as priority waste streams: electric and electronic wastes (e-wastes); persistent organic pollutants (POPs); obsolete pesticides; medical and biomedical wastes; used lead-acid batteries (ULABs); obsolete ships destined for dismantling; asbestos wastes; and mercury wastes. Key activities over the last decade include the elaboration of technical guidelines to assist parties in the management of priority waste streams; regional capacity-building projects in developing countries; and partnerships with industry and civil society.