Basel Convention (Caribbean) Regional Centre

Requested a Basel Convention centre

Members of the Basel Convention Open ended Working Group and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention could provide relevant expertise.

Basel Convention regional centres for training and technical transfer

Paragraph 1 of Article 14 of the Basel Convention states that

The response to the Basel Convention request would be submitted to the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention for consideration at its third meeting and forwarded to the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention.

The representative of the Basel Convention Secretariat made a brief presentation on the issue.

This is particularly emphasized for linkages to the regional centres of the Basel Convention.

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal mandate

Analysis of the implications for the Stockholm Convention of the guidelines on persistent organic pollutant wastes adopted under the Basel Convention

b. Cooperate with the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention for matters of common concern

There is no direct mechanism under the Basel Convention to fund the operations of these regional centres.

Response to the request by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention at its seventh meeting

The Basel Secretariat would examine the possibility of holding such a meeting in conjunction with the meeting of the Open ended Working Group of the Basel Convention, to be held in early April 2006.

C. Response to the request by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention at its seventh meeting

(f) To encourage Parties to the Stockholm Convention to participate actively in the ongoing work under the Basel Convention mentioned in paragraphs (d) and (e) and

Requests the secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention to join this work by contributing to the study on cooperation and synergies with the Basel and Stockholm convention secretariats

As of the deadline, comments were submitted by Germany and these comments were placed on the Basel Convention website (www.basel.int).

Rule 26, paragraph 6, of the rules of procedure of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention provides

Accordingly, experts considered how best to respond to the invitation from the Basel Convention within the current meeting and intersessionally.

Cement kiln co incineration is the term used in the Basel Convention, while Annex C, part II (b) of the Stockholm Convention refers to cement kilns firing hazardous waste .

The Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants adopted Resolution 5 on issues related to the Basel Convention, in paragraph 3 of which it invited

Welcomes also the recommendation of the Open Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention made at its fourth session requesting the secretariat of the Basel Convention to cooperate with the secretariats of the Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions in preparation of the study on cooperation and synergies referred to in paragraph 2 above

Better than Basel

The intergovernmental institution type of agreement provides oversight for a BCRC through a general assembly composed of Parties to the Convention in the region and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.

The general technical guidelines developed under the Basel Convention address matters related to all three of the outstanding definitional issues raised in paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Stockholm Convention.

During the ensuing discussion, it was noted that the Stockholm Convention was a recent convention which focused on persistent organic pollutants whereas the Basel Convention was long established and had extensive experience in the area of waste management.

The Expert Group proposes that the working group should meet, at a time to be determined in consultation with the Stockholm Convention Secretariat, to develop a substantial response to the Basel Convention request.

Reference is made to decisions V 26, VI 37, VII 12 and VII 15 adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention.

Decree No. 875, 19 July 1993, ratifies the text of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

As a follow up to the above mandate, the Basel Convention has established regional centres for delivering technical assistance in Argentina, China, Egypt, El Salvador, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Nigeria, Senegal, Slovak Republic, Russian Federation, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa and Uruguay. The core functions of Basel Convention regional centres (BCRCs) are training, technology transfer, information, consulting, and awareness raising.

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, signed on 22 March 1989 and acceded to on 21 December 1994

Guidance elements for the detection, prevention and control of illegal traffic in hazardous wastes draft training manual for the enforcement of laws implementing the Basel Convention

Illegal trade in hazardous waste continues to occur in violation of the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

Five BCRCs have signed formal agreements with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention to host regional centres and operate under this type of agreement with host Governments.

In order to have closer collaboration with existing centres that have complementary mandates to the Stockholm Convention, the regional and subregional centres for the Stockholm Convention could be housed in hosting institutions alongside Basel Convention regional centres or UNIDO UNEP national cleaner production centres.

The secretariat has included elements relating to the Stockholm Convention and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in the information that it provided to participants at the workshops held to facilitate implementation of the Rotterdam Convention.

In effect, each BCRC has to source its own funds as there is only limited financial support from the host country and the Parties to the Basel Convention.

(e) Parties should consider the need for and practical implementation of athe prior informed consent procedure for ODS imports similar to the one used in the Basel Convention

(c) Assess the capacity of all relevant regional and subregional centres, in particular, but not limited to Basel Convention regional centres, to facilitate capacity building and transfer of technology.

The iIntersessional Wworking Ggroup submitted comments on the drafts prepared by the lead countries and the Secretariat and these comments were placed on the Basel Convention web site (www.basel.int).

Basel Committee's work on combating financing of terrorism

Other representatives pointed out the linkages that existed in this area with the Basel Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, which covered some fluorinated gases, and in particular the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which also dealt with issues relating to destruction.

In addition, the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention has invited the bodies of the Stockholm Convention to consider the development of information on best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) with respect to unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants, including the more recent technologies for destruction and irreversible transformation listed in the general technical guidelines (see paragraph 7 6 of Basel decision VII 13).