A-21: HAZARDOUS WASTES - MANAGEMENT
Distr.
GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. II)
13 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 20
ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS WASTES,
INCLUDING PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC
IN HAZARDOUS WASTES
INTRODUCTION
20.1. Effective control of the generation, storage, treatment, recycling
and reuse, transport, recovery and disposal of hazardous wastes is of
paramount importance for proper health, environmental protection and
natural resource management, and sustainable development. This will
require the active cooperation and participation of the international
community, Governments and industry. Industry, as referred to in this
paper, shall include large industrial enterprises, including transnational
corporations and domestic industry.
20.2. Prevention of the generation of hazardous wastes and the
rehabilitation of contaminated sites are the key elements, and both require
knowledge, experienced people, facilities, financial resources and
technical and scientific capacities.
20.3. The activities outlined in the present chapter are very closely
related to, and have implications for, many of the programme areas
described in other chapters, so that an overall integrated approach to
hazardous waste management is necessary.
20.4. There is international concern that part of the international
movement of hazardous wastes is being carried out in contravention of
existing national legislation and international instruments to the
detriment of the environment and public health of all countries,
particularly developing countries.
20.5. In section I of resolution 44/226 of 22 December 1989, the General
Assembly requested each regional commission, within existing resources, to
contribute to the prevention of the illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous
products and wastes by monitoring and making regional assessments of that
illegal traffic and its environmental and health implications. The
Assembly also requested the regional commissions to interact among
themselves and cooperate with the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), with a view to maintaining efficient and coordinated monitoring and
assessment of the illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products and
wastes.
Overall objective
20.6. Within the framework of integrated life-cycle management, the
overall objective is to prevent to the extent possible, and minimize, the
generation of hazardous wastes, as well as to manage those wastes in such
a way that they do not cause harm to health and the environment.
Overall targets
20.7. The overall targets are:
(a) Preventing or minimizing the generation of hazardous wastes as
part of an overall integrated cleaner production approach; eliminating or
reducing to a minimum transboundary movements of hazardous wastes,
consistent with the environmentally sound and efficient management of those
wastes; and ensuring that environmentally sound hazardous waste management
options are pursued to the maximum extent possible within the country of
origin (the self-sufficiency principle). The transboundary movements that
take place should be on environmental and economic grounds and based upon
agreements between the States concerned;
(b) Ratification of the Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and the
expeditious elaboration of related protocols, such as the protocol on
liability and compensation, mechanisms and guidelines to facilitate the
implementation of the Basel Convention;
(c) Ratification and full implementation by the countries concerned of
the Bamako Convention on the Ban on the Import into Africa and the Control
of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes within Africa and the
expeditious elaboration of a protocol on liability and compensation;
(d) Elimination of the export of hazardous wastes to countries that,
individually or through international agreements, prohibits the import of
such wastes, such as, the contracting parties to the Bamako Convention, the
fourth Lom Convention or other relevant conventions, where such prohibition
is provided for.
20.8. The following programme areas are included in this chapter:
(a) Promoting the prevention and minimization of hazardous waste;
(b) Promoting and strengthening institutional capacities in hazardous
waste management;
(c) Promoting and strengthening international cooperation in the
management of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes;
(d) Preventing illegal international traffic in hazardous wastes.
PROGRAMME AREAS
A. Promoting the prevention and minimization of
hazardous waste
Basis for action
20.9. Human health and environmental quality are undergoing continuous
degradation by the increasing amount of hazardous wastes being produced.
There are increasing direct and indirect costs to society and to individual
citizens in connection with the generation, handling and disposal of such
wastes. It is therefore crucial to enhance knowledge and information on
the economics of prevention and management of hazardous wastes, including
the impact in relation to the employment and environmental benefits, in
order to ensure that the necessary capital investment is made available in
development programmes through economic incentives. One of the first
priorities in hazardous waste management is minimization, as part of a
broader approach to changing industrial processes and consumer patterns
through pollution prevention and cleaner production strategies.
20.10. Among the most important factors in these strategies is the
recovery of hazardous wastes and their tranformation into useful material.
Technology application, modification and development of new low-waste
technologies are therefore currently a central focus of hazardous waste
minimization.
Objectives
20.11. The objectives of this programme area are:
(a) To reduce the generation of hazardous wastes, to the extent
feasible, as part of an integrated cleaner production approach;
(b) To optimize the use of materials by utilizing, where practicable
and environmentally sound, the residues from production processes;
(c) To enhance knowledge and information on the economics of
prevention and management of hazardous wastes.
20.12. To achieve those objectives, and thereby reduce the impact and cost
of industrial development, countries that can afford to adopt the requisite
technologies without detriment to their development should establish
policies that include:
(a) Integration of cleaner production approaches and hazardous waste
minimization in all planning, and the adoption of specific goals;
(b) Promotion of the use of regulatory and market mechanisms;
(c) Establishment of an intermediate goal for the stabilization of the
quantity of hazardous waste generated;
(d) Establishment of long-term programmes and policies including
targets where appropriate for reducing the amount of hazardous waste
produced per unit of manufacture;
(e) Achievement of a qualitative improvement of waste streams, mainly
through activities aimed at reducing their hazardous characteristics;
(f) Facilitation of the establishment of cost-effective policies and
approaches to hazardous waste prevention and management, taking into
consideration the state of development of each country.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
20.13. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Governments should establish or modify standards or purchasing
specifications to avoid discrimination against recycled materials, provided
that those materials are environmentally sound;
(b) Governments, according to their possibilities and with the help of
multilateral cooperation, should provide economic or regulatory incentives,
where appropriate, to stimulate industrial innovation towards cleaner
production methods, to encourage industry to invest in preventive and/or
recycling technologies so as to ensure environmentally sound management of
all hazardous wastes, including recyclable wastes, and to encourage waste
minimization investments;
(c) Governments should intensify research and development activities
on cost-effective alternatives for processes and substances that currently
result in the generation of hazardous wastes that pose particular problems
for environmentally sound disposal or treatment, the possibility of
ultimate phase-out of those substances that present an unreasonable or
otherwise unmanageable risk and are toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative
to be considered as soon as practicable. Emphasis should be given to
alternatives that could be economically accessible to developing countries;
(d) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations and industries, as appropriate, should support the
establishment of domestic facilities to handle hazardous wastes of domestic
origin;
(e) Governments of developed countries should promote the transfer of
environmentally sound technologies and know-how on clean technologies and
low-waste production to developing countries in conformity with chapter 34,
which will bring about changes to sustain innovation. Governments should
cooperate with industry to develop guidelines and codes of conduct, where
appropriate, leading to cleaner production through sectoral trade industry
associations;
(f) Governments should encourage industry to treat, recycle, reuse and
dispose of wastes at the source of generation, or as close as possible
thereto, whenever hazardous waste generation is unavoidable and when it is
both economically and environmentally efficient for industry to do so;
(g) Governments should encourage technology assessments, for example
through the use of technology assessment centres;
(h) Governments should promote cleaner production through the
establishment of centres providing training and information on
environmentally sound technologies;
(i) Industry should establish environmental management systems,
including environmental auditing of its production or distribution sites,
in order to identify where the installation of cleaner production methods
is needed;
(j) A relevant and competent United Nations organization should take
the lead, in cooperation with other organizations, to develop guidelines
for estimating the costs and benefits of various approaches to the adoption
of cleaner production and waste minimization and environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes, including rehabilitation of contaminated
sites, taking into account, where appropriate, the report of the 1991
Nairobi meeting of government-designated experts on an international
strategy and an action programme, including technical guidelines for the
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes; in particular in the
context of the work of the Basel Convention, being developed under the UNEP
secretariat;
(k) Governments should establish regulations that lay down the
ultimate responsibility of industries for environmentally sound disposal of
the hazardous wastes their activities generate.
(b) Data and information
20.14. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Governments, assisted by international organizations, should
establish mechanisms for assessing the value of existing information
systems;
(b) Governments should establish nationwide and regional information
collection and dissemination clearing-houses and networks that are easy for
Government institutions and industry and other non-governmental
organizations to access and use;
(c) International organizations, through the UNEP Cleaner Production
programme and ICPIC, should extend and strengthen existing systems for
collection of cleaner production information;
(d) All United Nations organs and organizations should promote the use
and dissemination of information collected through the Cleaner Production
network;
(e) OECD should, in cooperation with other organizations, undertake a
comprehensive survey of, and disseminate information on, experiences of
member countries in adopting economic regulatory schemes and incentive
mechanisms for hazardous waste management and for the use of clean
technologies that prevent such waste from being generated;
(f) Governments should encourage industries to be transparent in their
operations and provide relevant information to the communities that might
be affected by the generation, management and disposal of hazardous wastes.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
20.15. International/regional cooperation should encourage the
ratification by States of the Basel and Bamako Conventions and promote the
implementation of those Conventions. Regional cooperation will be
necessary for the development of similar conventions in regions other than
Africa, if so required. In addition there is a need for effective
coordination of international regional and national policies and
instruments. Another activity proposed is cooperating in monitoring the
effects of the management of hazardous wastes.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
20.16. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $750 million from the international community on grant or
concessional terms. These are indicative and order-of-magnitude estimates
only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial
terms, including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter
alia, the specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for
implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
20.17. The following activities related to technology development and
research should be undertaken:
(a) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations, and industries, as appropriate, should significantly
increase financial support for cleaner technology research and development
programmes, including the use of biotechnologies;
(b) States, with the cooperation of international organizations where
appropriate, should encourage industry to promote and undertake research
into the phase-out of the processes that pose the greatest environmental
risk based on hazardous wastes generated;
(c) States should encourage industry to develop schemes to integrate
the cleaner production approach into design of products and management
practices;
(d) States should encourage industry to exercise environmentally
responsible care through hazardous waste reduction and by ensuring the
environmentally sound reuse, recycling and recovery of hazardous wastes, as
well as their final disposal.
(c) Human resource development
20.18. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Governments, international organizations and industry should
encourage industrial training programmes, incorporating hazardous waste
prevention and minimization techniques and launching demonstration projects
at the local level to develop "success stories" in cleaner production;
(b) Industry should integrate cleaner production principles and case
examples into training programmes and establish demonstration
projects/networks by sector/country;
(c) All sectors of society should develop cleaner production awareness
campaigns and promote dialogue and partnership with industry and other
actors.
(d) Capacity-building
20.19. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Governments of developing countries, in cooperation with industry
and with the cooperation of appropriate international organizations, should
develop inventories of hazardous waste production, in order to identify
their needs with respect to technology transfer and implementation of
measures for the sound management of hazardous wastes and their disposal;
(b) Governments should include in national planning and legislation an
integrated approach to environmental protection, driven by prevention and
source reduction criteria, taking into account the "polluter pays"
principle, and adopt programmes for hazardous waste reduction, including
targets and adequate environmental control;
(c) Governments should work with industry on sector-by-sector cleaner
production and hazardous waste minimization campaigns, as well as on the
reduction of such wastes and other emissions;
(d) Governments should take the lead in establishing and
strengthening, as appropriate, national procedures for environmental impact
assessment, taking into acount the cradle-to-grave approach to the
management of hazardous wastes, in order to identify options for minimizing
the generation of hazardous wastes, through safer handling, storage,
disposal and destruction;
(e) Governments, in collaboration with industry and appropriate
international organizations, should develop procedures for monitoring the
application of the cradle to grave approach, including environmental
audits;
(f) Bilateral and multilateral development assistance agencies should
substantially increase funding for cleaner technology transfer to
developing countries, including small- and medium-sized enterprises.
B. Promoting and strengthening institutional capacities in
hazardous waste management
Basis for action
20.20. Many countries lack the national capacity to handle and manage
hazardous wastes. This is primarily due to inadequate infrastructure,
deficiencies in regulatory frameworks, insufficient education and training
programmes and lack of coordination between the different ministries and
institutions involved in various aspects of waste management. In addition,
there is a lack of knowledge about environmental contamination and
pollution and the associated health risk from the exposure of populations,
especially women and children, and ecosystems to hazardous wastes;
assessment of risks; and the characteristics of wastes. Steps need to be
taken immediately to identify populations at high risk and to take remedial
measures, where necessary. One of the main priorities in ensuring
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes is to provide
awareness, education and training programmes covering all levels of
society. There is also a need to undertake research programmes to
understand the nature of hazardous wastes, to identify their potential
environmental effects and to develop technologies to safely handle those
wastes. Finally, there is a need to strengthen the capacities of
institutions that are responsible for the management of hazardous wastes.
Objectives
20.21. The objectives in this programme area are:
(a) To adopt appropriate coordinating, legislative and regulatory
measures at the national level for the environmentally sound management of
hazardous wastes, including the implementation of international and
regional conventions;
(b) To establish public awareness and information programmes on
hazardous waste issues and to ensure that basic education and training
programmes are provided for industry and government workers in all
countries;
(c) To establish comprehensive research programmes on hazardous wastes
in countries;
(d) To strengthen service industries to enable them to handle
hazardous wastes, and to build up international networking;
(e) To develop endogenous capacities in all developing countries to
educate and train staff at all levels in environmentally sound hazardous
waste handling and monitoring and in environmentally sound management;
(f) To promote human exposure assessment with respect to hazardous
waste sites and identify the remedial measures required;
(g) To facilitate the assessment of impacts and risks of hazardous
wastes on human health and the environment by establishing appropriate
procedures, methodologies, criteria and/or effluent-related guidelines and
standards;
(h) To improve knowledge regarding the effects of hazardous wastes on
human health and the environment;
(i) To make information available to Governments and to the general
public on the effects of hazardous wastes, including infectious wastes, on
human health and the environment.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
20.22. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Governments should establish and maintain inventories, including
computerized inventories, of hazardous wastes and their treatment/disposal
sites, as well as of contaminated sites that require rehabilitation, and
assess exposure and risk to human health and the environment; they should
also identify the measures required to clean up the disposal sites.
Industry should make the necessary information available;
(b) Governments, industry and international organizations should
collaborate in developing guidelines and easy-to-implement methods for the
characterization and classification of hazardous wastes;
(c) Governments should carry out exposure and health assessments of
populations residing near uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and initiate
remedial measures;
(d) International organizations should develop improved health-based
criteria, taking into account national decision-making processes, and
assist in the preparation of practical technical guidelines for the
prevention, minimization and safe handling and disposal of hazardous
wastes;
(e) Governments of developing countries should encourage
interdisciplinary and intersectoral groups, in cooperation with
international organizations and agencies, to implement training and
research activities related to evaluation, prevention and control of
hazardous waste health risks. Such groups should serve as models to
develop similar regional programmes;
(f) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations as appropriate, should encourage as far as possible the
establishment of combined treatment/disposal facilities for hazardous
wastes in small- and medium-sized industries;
(g) Governments should promote identification and clean-up of sites of
hazardous wastes in collaboration with industry and international
organizations. Technologies, expertise and financing should be available
for this purpose, as far as possible and when appropriate with the
application of the "polluter pays" principle;
(h) Governments should ascertain that their military establishments
conform to their nationally applicable environmental norms in the treatment
and disposal of hazardous wastes.
(b) Data and information
20.23. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Governments, international and regional organizations and industry
should facilitate and expand the dissemination of technical and scientific
information dealing with the various health aspects of hazardous wastes,
and promote its application;
(b) Governments should establish notification systems and registries
of exposed populations and of adverse health effects and databases on risk
assessments of hazardous wastes;
(c) Governments should endeavour to collect information on those who
generate or dispose/recycle hazardous wastes and provide such information
to the individuals and institutions concerned.
(c) International and regional cooperation and coordination
20.24. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Promote and support the integration and operation, at the regional
and local levels as appropriate, of institutional and interdisciplinary
groups that collaborate, according to their capabilities, in activities
oriented towards strengthening risk assessment, risk management and risk
reduction with respect to hazardous wastes;
(b) Support capacity-building and technological development and
research in developing countries in connection with human resource
development, with particular support to be given to consolidating networks;
(c) Encourage self-sufficiency in hazardous waste disposal in the
country of origin to the extent environmentally sound and feasible. The
transboundary movements that take place should be on environmental and
economic grounds and based upon agreements between all States concerned.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
20.25. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be
about $18.5 billion on a global basis with about $3.5 billion related to
developing countries, including about $500 million from the international
community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and
order-of-magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by
Governments. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are
non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and
programmes Governments decide upon for implementation.
(b) Scientific and technological means
20.26. The following activities should be undertaken:
(a) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations and industry as appropriate, should increase support for
hazardous waste research management in developing countries;
(b) Governments, in collaboration with international organizations,
should conduct research on the health effects of hazardous wastes in
developing countries, including the long-term effects on children and
women;
(c) Governments should conduct research aimed at the needs of small
and medium-sized industries;
(d) Governments and international organizations in cooperation with
industry should expand technological research on environmentally sound
hazardous waste handling, storage, transport, treatment and disposal and on
hazardous waste assessment, management and remediation;
(e) International organizations should identify relevant and improved
technologies for handling, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous
wastes.
(c) Human resource development
20.27. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations and industry as appropriate, should:
(a) Increase public awareness and information on hazardous waste
issues and promote the development and dissemination of hazardous wastes
information that the general public can understand;
(b) Increase participation in hazardous waste management programmes by
the general public, particularly women, including participation at
grass-roots levels;
(c) Develop training and education programmes for men and women in
industry and Government aimed at specific real-life problems, for example,
planning and implementing hazardous waste minimization programmes,
conducting hazardous materials audits and establishing appropriate
regulatory programmes;
(d) Promote the training of labour, industrial management and
government regulatory staff in developing countries on technologies to
minimize and manage hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner.
20.28. The following activities should also be undertaken:
(a) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations, other organizations and
non-governmental organizations, should collaborate in developing and
disseminating educational materials concerning hazardous wastes and their
effects on environment and human health, for use in schools, by women's
groups and by the general public;
(b) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other organizations,
should establish or strengthen programmes for the environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes in accordance with, as appropriate, health
and environmental standards, and extend surveillance systems for the
purpose of identifying adverse effects on populations and the environment
of exposure to hazardous wastes;
(c) International organizations should provide assistance to member
States in assessing the health and environmental risks resulting from
exposure to hazardous wastes, and in identifying their priorities for
controlling the various categories or classes of wastes;
(d) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations, should promote centres of excellence for training in
hazardous waste management, building on appropriate national institutions
and encouraging international cooperation, inter alia, through
institutional links between developed and developing countries.
(d) Capacity-building
20.29. Wherever they operate, transnational corporations and other
large-scale enterprises should be encouraged to introduce policies and make
commitments to adopt standards of operation with reference to hazardous
waste generation and disposal that are equivalent to or no less stringent
than standards in the country of origin, and Governments are invited to
make efforts to establish regulations requiring environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes.
20.30. International organizations should provide assistance to member
States in assessing the health and environmental risks resulting from
exposure to hazardous wastes and in identifying their priorities for
controlling the various categories or classes of wastes.
20.31. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations and industries, should:
(a) Support national institutions in dealing with hazardous wastes
from the regulatory monitoring and enforcement perspectives, with such
support including enabling of those institutions to implement international
conventions;
(b) Develop industry-based institutions for dealing with hazardous
wastes and service industries for handling hazardous wastes;
(c) Adopt technical guidelines for the environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes and support the implementation of regional
and international conventions;
(d) Develop and expand international networking among professionals
working in the area of hazardous wastes and maintain an information flow
among countries;
(e) Assess the feasibility of establishing and operating national,
subregional and regional hazardous wastes treatment centres. Such centres
could be used for education and training, as well as for facilitation and
promotion of the transfer of technologies for the environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes;
(f) Identify and strengthen relevant academic/research institutions or
centres for excellence to enable them to carry out education and training
activities in the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes;
(g) Develop a programme for the establishment of national capacities
and capabilities to educate and train staff at various levels in hazardous
wastes management;
(h) Conduct environmental audits of existing industries to improve
in-plant regimes for the management of hazardous wastes.
C. Promoting and strengthening international cooperation in
the management of transboundary movements of hazardous
wastes
Basis for action
20.32. In order to promote and strengthen international cooperation in the
management, including control and monitoring, of transboundary movements of
hazardous wastes, a precautionary approach should be applied. There is a
need to harmonize the procedures and criteria used in various international
and legal instruments. There is also a need to develop or harmonize
existing criteria for identifying wastes dangerous to the environment and
to build monitoring capacities.
Objectives
20.33. The objectives of this programme area are:
(a) To facilitate and strengthen international cooperation in the
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, including control and
monitoring of transboundary movements of such wastes, including wastes for
recovery, by using internationally adopted criteria to identify and
classify hazardous wastes and to harmonize relevant international legal
instruments;
(b) To adopt a ban on or prohibit, as appropriate, the export of
hazardous wastes to countries that do not have the capacity to deal with
those wastes in an environmentally sound way or that have banned the import
of such wastes;
(c) To promote the development of control procedures for the
transboundary movement of hazardous wastes destined for recovery operations
under the Basel Convention that encourage environmentally and economically
sound recycling options.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
Strengthening and harmonizing criteria and regulations
20.34. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of United Nations and other relevant
organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Incorporate the notification procedure called for in the Basel
Convention and relevant regional conventions, as well as in their annexes,
into national legislation;
(b) Formulate, where appropriate, regional agreements such as the
Bamako Convention regulating the transboundary movement of hazardous
wastes;
(c) Help promote the compatibility and complementarity of such
regional agreements with international conventions and protocols;
(d) Strengthen national and regional capacities and capabilities to
monitor and control the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes;
(e) Promote the development of clear criteria and guidelines, within
the framework of the Basel Convention and regional conventions, as
appropriate, for environmentally and economically sound operation in
resource recovery, recycling reclamation, direct use or alternative uses
and for determination of acceptable recovery practices, including recovery
levels where feasible and appropriate, with a view to preventing abuses and
false presentation in the above operations;
(f) Consider setting up, at national and regional levels, as
appropriate, systems for monitoring and surveillance of the transboundary
movements of hazardous wastes;
(g) Develop guidelines for the assessment of environmentally sound
treatment of hazardous wastes;
(h) Develop guidelines for the identification of hazardous wastes at
the national level, taking into account existing internationally - and,
where appropriate, regionally - agreed criteria and prepare a list of
hazard profiles for the hazardous wastes listed in national legislation;
(i) Develop and use appropriate methods for testing, characterizing
and classifying hazardous wastes and adopt or adapt safety standards and
principles for managing hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound way.
Implementing existing agreements
20.35. Governments are urged to ratify the Basel Convention and the Bamako
Convention, as applicable, and to pursue the expeditious elaboration of
related protocols, such as protocols on liability and compensation, and of
mechanisms and guidelines to facilitate the implementation of the
Conventions.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
20.36. Because this programme area covers a relatively new field of
operation and because of the lack so far of adequate studies on costing of
activities under this programme, no cost estimate is available at present.
However, the costs for some of the activities related to capacity-building
that are presented under this programme could be considered to have been
covered under the costing of programme area B above.
20.37. The interim secretariat for the Basel Convention should undertake
studies in order to arrive at a reasonable cost estimate for activities to
be undertaken initially until the year 2000.
(b) Capacity-building
20.38. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of United Nations and other relevant
organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Elaborate or adopt policies for the environmentally sound
management of hazardous wastes, taking into account existing international
instruments;
(b) Make recommendations to the appropriate forums or establish or
adapt norms, including the equitable implementation of the polluter pays
principle, and regulatory measures to comply with obligations and
principles of the Basel Convention, the Bamako Convention and other
relevant existing or future agreements, including protocols, as
appropriate, for setting appropriate rules and procedures in the field of
liability and compensation for damage resulting from the transboundary
movement and disposal of hazardous wastes;
(c) Implement policies for the implementation of a ban or prohibition,
as appropriate, of exports of hazardous wastes to countries that do not
have the capacity to deal with those wastes in an environmentally sound way
or that have banned the import of such wastes;
(d) Study, in the context of the Basel Convention and relevant
regional conventions, the feasibility of providing temporary financial
assistance in the case of an emergency situation, in order to minimize
damage from accidents arising from transboundary movements of hazardous
wastes or during the disposal of those wastes.
D. Preventing illegal international traffic in
hazardous wastes
Basis for action
20.39. The prevention of illegal traffic in hazardous wastes will benefit
the environment and public health in all countries, particularly developing
countries. It will also help to make the Basel Convention and regional
international instruments, such as the Bamako Convention and the fourth
Lom Convention, more effective by promoting compliance with the controls
established in those agreements. Article IX of the Basel Convention
specifically addresses the issue of illegal shipments of hazardous
wastes. Illegal traffic of hazardous wastes may cause serious threats to
human health and the environment and impose a special and abnormal burden
on the countries that receive such shipments.
20.40. Effective prevention requires action through effective monitoring
and the enforcement and imposition of appropriate penalties.
Objectives
20.41. The objectives of this programme area are:
(a) To reinforce national capacities to detect and halt any illegal
attempt to introduce hazardous wastes into the territory of any State in
contravention of national legislation and relevant international legal
instruments;
(b) To assist all countries, particularly developing countries, in
obtaining all appropriate information concerning illegal traffic in
hazardous
wastes;
(c) To cooperate, within the framework of the Basel Convention, in
assisting countries that suffer the consequences of illegal traffic.
Activities
(a) Management-related activities
20.42. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant
organizations, as appropriate, should:
(a) Adopt, where necessary, and implement legislation to prevent the
illegal import and export of hazardous wastes;
(b) Develop appropriate national enforcement programmes to monitor
compliance with such legislation, detect and deter violations through
appropriate penalties and give special attention to those who are known to
have conducted illegal traffic in hazardous wastes and to hazardous wastes
that are particularly susceptible to illegal traffic.
(b) Data and information
20.43. Governments should develop as appropriate, an information network
and alert system to assist in detecting illegal traffic in hazardous
wastes. Local communities and others could be involved in the operation of
such a network and system.
20.44. Governments should cooperate in the exchange of information on
illegal transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and should make such
information available to appropriate United Nations bodies such as UNEP and
the regional commissions.
(c) International and regional cooperation
20.45. The regional commissions, in cooperation with and relying upon
expert support and advice from UNEP and other relevant bodies of the United
Nations system, taking full account of the Basel Convention, shall continue
to monitor and assess the illegal traffic in hazardous wastes, including
its environmental, economic and health implications, on a continuing basis,
drawing upon the results and experience gained in the joint UNEP/ESCAP
preliminary assessment of illegal traffic.
20.46. Countries and international organizations, as appropriate, should
cooperate to strengthen the institutional and regulatory capacities, in
particular of developing countries, in order to prevent the illegal import
and export of hazardous wastes.
END OF CHAPTER 20
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==============================RRojas Research Unit/1996=================
