Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes in International Law: The Special Case of the Mediterranean Area

Abstract

AbstractSince the early 1980s different organisations have tried to enact international instruments to control international waste trade. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal was adopted in 1989 under the auspices of UNEP in order to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects which may result from the management of waste involved in transboundary movements of hazardous waste and its disposal. The Basel Convention has evolved significantly in eight years-whereas only 35 states and the EC signed the Convention at the time of its adoption, more than 113 states have ratified it as to August 1997. Several other instruments have been developed under the Basel Convention influence. Among those treaties that have been adopted, two deserve special attention. First, the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa adopted in 1991 under the auspices of OAU. Second, the Fourth Lomé Convention adopted by the EC and its member states and 69 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. The first part of this article is devoted to a comparative analysis of those three Conventions. The second part of this article gives an objective analysis of the substantive regulation of the Izmir Protocol while criticising diverse aspects and proposing alternatives in view of the conventions treated in the preceding part.