- Aware of the risk of damage to human health and the environment caused by hazardous wastes and other wastes and the transboundary movement thereof
- Mindful of the growing threat to human health and the environment posed by the increased generation and complexity, and transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes, Mindful also that the most effective way of protecting human health and the environment from the dangers posed by such wastes is the reduction of their generation to a minimum in terms of quantity and/or hazard potential,
- Convinced that States should take necessary measures to ensure that the management of hazardous wastes and other wastes including their transboundary movement and disposal is consistent with the protection of human health and the environment whatever the place of their disposal,
- Noting that States should ensure that the generator should carry out duties with regard to the transport and disposal of hazardous wastes and other wastes in a manner that is consistent with the protection of the environment, whatever the place of disposal,
- Fully recognizing that any State has the sovereign right to ban the entry or disposal of foreign hazardous wastes and other wastes in its territory,
- Recognizing also the increasing desire for the prohibition of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal in other States, especially developing countries,
- Convinced that hazardous wastes and other wastes should, as far as is compatible with environmentally sound and efficient management, be disposed of in the State where they were generated,
- Aware also that transboundary movements of such wastes from the State of their generation to any other State should be permitted only when conducted under conditions which do not endanger human health and the environment, and under conditions in conformity with the provisions of this Convention,
- Considering that enhanced control of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes will act as an incentive for their environmentally sound management and for the reduction of the volume of such transboundary movement,
- Convinced that States should take measures for the proper exchange of information on and control of the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes from and to those States,
- Noting that a number of international and regional agreements have addressed the issue of protection and preservation of the environment with regard to the transit of dangerous goods,
- Taking into account the Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972), the Cairo Guidelines and Principles for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes adopted by the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) by decision 14/30 of 17 June 1987, the Recommendations of the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (formulated in 1957 and updated biennially), relevant recommendations, declarations, instruments and regulations adopted within the United Nations system and the work and studies done within other international and regional organizations,
- Mindful of the spirit, principles, aims and functions of the World Charter for Nature adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations at its thirty-seventh session (1982) as the rule of ethics in respect of the protection of the human environment and the conservation of natural resources,
- Affirming that States are responsible for the fulfilment of their international obligations concerning the protection of human health and protection and preservation of the environment, and are liable in accordance with international law,
- Recognizing that in the case of a material breach of the provisions of this Convention or any protocol thereto the relevant international law of treaties shall apply,
- Aware of the need to continue the development and implementation of environmentally sound low-waste technologies, recycling options, good house- keeping and management systems with a view to reducing to a minimum the generation of hazardous wastes and other wastes,
- Aware also of the growing international concern about the need for stringent control of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes, and of the need as far as possible to reduce such movement to a minimum,
- Concerned about the problem of illegal transboundary traffic in hazardous wastes and other wastes,
- Taking into account also the limited capabilities of the developing countries to manage hazardous wastes and other wastes,
- Recognizing the need to promote the transfer of technology for the sound management of hazardous wastes and other wastes produced locally, particularly to the developing countries in accordance with the spirit of the Cairo Guidelines and decision 14/16 of the Governing Council of UNEP on Promotion of the transfer of environmental protection technology,
- Recognizing also that hazardous wastes and other wastes should be transported in accordance with relevant international conventions and recommendations
- Convinced also that the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes should be permitted only when the transport and the ultimate disposal of such wastes is environmentally sound, and
- Determined to protect, by strict control, human health and the environment against the adverse effects which may result from the generation and management of hazardous wastes and other wastes,
ARTICLE ONE: SCOPE
OF THE CONVENTION
1. The following wastes that are subject
to transboundary movement shall be "hazardous wastes" for the
purposes of this Convention:
(a)
Wastes that belong to any category
contained in Annex I, unless they do not possess any of the characteristics
contained in Annex III; and
(b)
Wastes that are not covered under
paragraph (a) but are defined as, or are considered to be, hazardous wastes by
the domestic legislation of the Party of export, import or transit.
2. Wastes that belong to any category
contained in Annex II that are subject to transboundary movement shall be
"other wastes" for the purposes of this Convention.
3.
Wastes which, as a result of being
radioactive, are subject to other international control systems, including international
instruments, applying specifically to radioactive materials, are excluded from
the scope of this Convention.
4. Wastes which derive from the normal
operations of a ship, the discharge of which is covered by another
international instrument, are excluded from the scope of this Convention.
ARTICLE TWO: DEFINITIONS
For
the purposes of this Convention:
1. "Wastes" are substances or
objects which are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required
to be disposed of by the provisions of national law;
2. "Management" means the
collection, transport and disposal of hazardous wastes or other wastes,
including after-care of disposal sites;
3. "Transboundary movement"
means any movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes from an area under the
national jurisdiction of one State to or through an area under the national
jurisdiction of another State or to or through an area not under the national
jurisdiction of any State, provided at least two States are involved in the
movement;
4. "Disposal" means any
operation specified in Annex IV to this Convention;
5. "Approved site or
facility" means a site or facility for the disposal of hazardous wastes or
other wastes which is authorized or permitted to operate for this purpose by a
relevant authority of the State where the site or facility is located;
6. "Competent authority"
means one governmental authority designated by a Party to be responsible,
within such geographical areas as the Party may think tit, for receiving the
notification of a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes,
and any information related to it, and for responding to such a notification,
as provided in Article 6;
7. "Focal point" means the
entity of a Party referred to in Article 5 responsible for receiving and submitting
information as provided for in Articles 13 and 16;
8. "Environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes or other wastes" means taking all
practicable steps to ensure that hazardous wastes or other wastes are managed
in a manner which will protect human health and the environment against the
adverse effects which may result from such wastes;
9. "Area under the national
jurisdiction of a State" means any land, marine area or airspace within
which a State exercises administrative and regulatory responsibility in
accordance with international law in regard to the protection of human health
or the environment;
10. "State of export" means a
Party from which a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes
is planned to be initiated or is initiated;
11. "State of import" means a
Party to which a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes is
planned or takes place for the purpose of disposal therein or for the purpose
of loading prior to disposal in an area not under the national jurisdiction of
any State;
12. "State of transit" means
any State, other than the State of export or import, through which a movement
of hazardous wastes or other wastes is planned or takes place;
13. "States concerned" means
Parties which are States of export or import, or transit States, whether or not
Parties;
14. "Person" means any natural
or legal person;
15. "Exporter" means any
person under the jurisdiction of the State of export who arranges for hazardous
wastes or other wastes to be exported;
16. "Importer" means any
person under the jurisdiction of the State of import who arranges for hazardous
wastes or other wastes to be imported;
17. "Carrier" means any person
who carries out the transport of hazardous wastes or other wastes;
18. "Generator" means any
person whose activity produces hazardous wastes or other wastes or, if that
person is not known, the person who is in possession and/or control of those
wastes;
19. "Disposer" means any
person to whom hazardous wastes or other wastes are shipped and who carries out
the disposal of such wastes;
20. "Political and/or economic
integration organization" means an organization constituted by sovereign
States to which its member States have transferred competence in respect of
matters governed by this Convention and which has been duly authorized, in
accordance with its internal procedures, to sign, ratify, accept, approve,
formally confirm or accede to it;
21. "Illegal traffic" means
any transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes as specified in
Article 9.
ARTICLE THREE: NATIONAL
DEFINITIONS OF HAZARDOUS WASTES
1. Each Party shall, within six months
of becoming a Party to this Convention, inform the Secretariat of the
convention of the wastes, other than those listed in Annexes I and II,
considered or defined as hazardous under its national legislation and of any
requirements concerning transboundary movement procedures applicable to such
wastes.
2. Each Party shall subsequently inform
the Secretariat of any significant changes to the information it has provided
pursuant to paragraph 1.
3. The Secretariat shall forthwith
inform all Parties of the information it has received pursuant to paragraphs 1
and 2.
4. Parties shall be responsible for
making the information transmitted to them by the Secretariat under paragraph 3
available to their exporters.
ARTICLE
FOUR: GENERAL OBLIGATIONS
1. (a) Parties exercising their right
to prohibit the import of hazardous wastes or other wastes for disposal shall
inform the other Parties of their decision pursuant to Article 13.
1. (b) Parties shall prohibit or shall
not permit the export of hazardous wastes and other wastes to the Parties which
have prohibited the import of such wastes, when notified pursuant to
subparagraph (a) above.
2. (c) Parties shall prohibit or shall
not permit the export of hazardous wastes and other wastes if the State of
import does not consent in writing to the specific import, in the case where
that State of import has not prohibited the import of such wastes.
3. Each Party shall take the
appropriate measures to:
(a) Ensure that the generation of
hazardous wastes and other wastes within it is reduced to a minimum, taking
into account social, technological and economic aspects;
(b) Ensure the availability of adequate
disposal facilities, for the environmentally sound management of hazardous
wastes and other wastes, that shall be located, to the extent possible, within
it, whatever the place of their disposal;
(c) Ensure that persons involved in the
management of hazardous wastes or other wastes within it take such steps as are
necessary to prevent pollution due to hazardous wastes and other wastes arising
from such management and, if such pollution occurs, to minimize the
consequences thereof for human health and the environment;
(d) Ensure that the transboundary
movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes is reduced to the minimum
consistent with the environmentally sound and efficient management of such
wastes, and is conducted in a manner which will protect human health and the
environment against the adverse effects which may result from such movement;
(e) Not allow the export of hazardous
wastes or other wastes to a State or group of States belonging to an economic
and/or political integration organization that are Parties, particularly
developing countries, which have prohibited by their legislation all imports,
or if it has reason to believe that the wastes in question will not be managed
in an environmentally sound manner, according to criteria to be decided on by
the Parties at their first meeting.
(f) Require that information about a
proposed transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes be
provided to the States concerned, according to Annex V A, to state clearly the
effects of the proposed movement on human health and the environment;
(g) Prevent the import of hazardous
wastes and other wastes if it has reason to believe that the wastes in question
will not be managed in an environmentally sound manner;
(h) Co-operate in activities with other
Parties and interested organizations, directly and through the Secretariat,
including the dissemination of information on the transboundary movement of
hazardous wastes and other wastes, in order to improve the environmentally
sound management of such wastes and to achieve the prevention of illegal
traffic;
4. The Parties consider that illegal
traffic in hazardous wastes or other wastes is criminal.
5. Each Party shall take appropriate
legal, administrative and other measures to implement and enforce the
provisions of this Convention, including measures to prevent and punish conduct
in contravention of the Convention.
6. A Party shall not permit hazardous
wastes or other wastes to be exported to a non- Party or to be imported from a
non-Party.
7. The Parties agree not to allow the
export of hazardous wastes or other wastes for disposal within the area south
of 60 degrees South latitude, whether or not such wastes are subject to
transboundary movement.
8. Furthermore, each Party shall:
(a) Prohibit all persons under its
national jurisdiction from transporting or disposing of hazardous wastes or
other wastes unless such persons are authorized or allowed to perform such
types of operations;
(b) Require that hazardous wastes and
other wastes that are to be the subject of a transboundary movement be
packaged, labelled, and transported in conformity with generally accepted and
recognized international rules and standards in the field of packaging,
labelling, and transport, and that due account is taken of relevant
internationally recognized practices;
(c) Require that hazardous wastes and
other wastes be accompanied by a movement document from the point at which a
transboundary movement commences to the point of disposal.
9. Each Party shall require that
hazardous wastes or other wastes, to be exported, are managed in an
environmentally sound manner in the State of import or elsewhere. Technical
guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes subject to this
Convention shall be decided by the Parties at their first meeting.
10. Parties shall take the appropriate
measures to ensure that the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and
other wastes only be allowed if:
(a) The State of export does not have
the technical capacity and the necessary facilities, capacity or suitable
disposal sites in order to dispose of the wastes in question in an
environmentally sound and efficient manner; or
(b) The wastes in question are required
as a raw material for recycling or recovery industries in the State of import;
or
(c) The transboundary movement in
question is in accordance with other criteria to be decided by the Parties,
provided those criteria do not differ from the objectives of this Convention.
11. The obligation under this Convention
of States in which hazardous wastes and other wastes are generated to require
that those wastes are managed in an environmentally sound manner may not under
any circumstances be transferred to the States of import or transit.
12. Nothing in this Convention shall
prevent a Party from imposing additional requirements that are consistent with
the provisions of this Convention, and are in accordance with the rules of
international law, in order better to protect human health and the environment.
13. Nothing in this Convention shall
affect in any way the sovereignty of States over their territorial sea
established in accordance with international law, and the sovereign rights and
the jurisdiction which States have in their exclusive economic zones and their
continental shelves in accordance with international law, and the exercise by
ships and aircraft of all States of navigational rights and freedoms as
provided for in international law and as reflected in relevant international
instruments.
14. Parties shall undertake to review
periodically the possibilities for the reduction of the amount and/or the
pollution potential of hazardous wastes and other wastes which are exported to
other States, in particular to developing countries.
ARTICLE FIVE:
DESIGNATION OF COMPETENT AUTHORITIES AND FOCAL POINT
To
facilitate the implementation of this Convention, the Parties shall:
1. Designate or establish one or more
competent authorities and one focal point. One competent authority shall be
designated to receive the notification in case of a State of transit.
2. Inform the Secretariat, within three
months of the date of the entry into force of this Convention for them, which
agencies they have designated as their focal point and their competent
authorities.
3. Inform the Secretariat, within one
month of the date of decision, of any changes regarding the designation made by
them under paragraph 2 above.
ARTICLE SIX: TRANSBOUNDARY
MOVEMENT BETWEEN PARTIES
1. The State of export shall notify, or
shall require the generator or exporter to notify, in writing, through the
channel of the competent authority of the State of export, the competent
authority of the States concerned of any proposed transboundary movement of
hazardous wastes or other wastes Such notification shall contain the
declarations and information specified in Annex V A, written in a language
acceptable to the State of import. Only one notification needs to be sent to
each State concerned.
2. The State of import shall respond to
the notifier in writing, consenting to the movement with or without conditions,
denying permission for the movement, or requesting additional information. A
copy of the final response of the State of import shall be sent to the
competent authorities of the States concerned which are Parties.
3. The State of export shall not allow
the generator or exporter to commence the transboundary movement until it has
received written confirmation that:
(a) The notifier has received the
written consent of the State of import; and
(b) The notifier has received from the
State of import confirmation of the existence of a contract between the
exporter and the disposer specifying environmentally sound management of the
wastes in question.
4. Each State of transit which is a
Party shall promptly acknowledge to the notifier receipt of the notification.
It may subsequently respond to the notifier in writing, within 60 days,
consenting to the movement with or without conditions, denying permission for
the movement, or requesting additional information. The State of export shall
not allow the transboundary movement to commence until it has received the
written consent of the State of transit. However, if at any time a Party
decides not to require prior written consent, either generally or under
specific conditions, for transit transboundary movements of hazardous wastes or
other wastes, or modifies its requirements in this respect, it shall forthwith
inform the other Parties of its decision pursuant to Article 13. In this latter
case, if no response is received by the State of export within 60 days of the
receipt of a given notification by the State of transit, the State of export
may allow the export to proceed through the State of transit.
5. In the case of a transboundary
movement of wastes where the wastes are legally defined as or considered to be
hazardous wastes only:
(a) By the State of export, the
requirements of paragraph 9 of this Article that apply to the importer or
disposer and the State of import shall apply mutatis mutandis to the exporter
and State of export, respectively;
(b) By the State of import, or by the
States of import and transit which are Parties, the requirements of paragraphs
1, 3, 4 and 6 of this Article that apply to the exporter and State of export
shall apply mutatis mutandis to the importer or disposer and State of import,
respectively; or
(c) By any State of transit which is a
Party, the provisions of paragraph 4 shall apply to such State.
6. The State of export may, subject to
the written consent of the States concerned, allow the generator or the
exporter to use a general notification where hazardous wastes or other wastes
having the same physical and chemical characteristics are shipped regularly to
the same disposer via the same customs office of exit of the State of export
via the same customs office of entry of the State of import, and, in the case
of transit, via the same customs office of entry and exit of the State or
States of transit.
7. The States concerned may make their
written consent to the use of the general notification referred to in paragraph
6 subject to the supply of certain information, such as the exact quantities or
periodical lists of hazardous wastes or other wastes to be shipped.
8. The general notification and written
consent referred to in paragraphs 6 and 7 may cover multiple shipments of
hazardous wastes or other wastes during a maximum period of 12 months.
9. The Parties shall require that each
person who takes charge of a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or
other wastes sign the movement document either upon delivery or receipt of the
wastes in question. They shall also require that the disposer inform both the
exporter and the competent authority of the State of export of receipt by the
disposer of the wastes in question and, in due course, of the completion of
disposal as specified in the notification. If no such information is received
within the State of export, the competent authority of the State of export or
the exporter shall so notify the State of import.
10. The notification and response
required by this Article shall be transmitted to the competent authority of the
Parties concerned or to such governmental authority as may be appropriate in
the case of non-Parties.
11. Any transboundary movement of
hazardous wastes or other wastes shall be covered by insurance, bond or other
guarantee as may be required by the State of import or any State of transit
which is a Party.
ARTICLE SEVEN: TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT FROM A PARTY THROUGH
STATES WHICH ARE NOT PARTIES
Paragraph
1 of Article 6 of the Convention shall apply mutatis mutandis to transboundary
movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes from a Party through a State or
States which are not Parties.
ARTICLE EIGHT: DUTY TO RE-IMPORT
When
a transboundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes to which the
consent of the States concerned has been given, subject to the provisions of
this Convention, cannot be completed in accordance with the terms of the
contract, the State of export shall ensure that the wastes in question are
taken back into the State of export, by the exporter, if alternative
arrangements cannot be made for their disposal in an environmentally sound
manner, within 90 days from the time that the importing State informed the
State of export and the Secretariat, or such other period of time as the States
concerned agree. To this end, the State of export and any Party of transit
shall not oppose, hinder or prevent the return of those wastes to the State of
export.