1989 Basel Convention Environmental Agreements

Basel Convention

In 1987, Gianfranco Raffaeli and Renato Pent of the firms Ecomar and Jelly Wax established a contract with Sunday Nana of the firm Iruekpen Construction to store 18,000 drums of hazardous industrial waste in his backyard for $100 per month ("Nigeria Waste Imports" par. 2-6). This contract was illegal, because it represented the dumping of toxic waste from Italian factories in Nigeria without government oversight or approval. When the drums began to leak and the Nigerian government attempted to cover it up, Nigerian students in Italy notified the press in Koko, Nigeria about the scandal. The contents of the drums were so toxic that Nigerian cleanup crews became ill from the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), asbestos, and dioxins contaminating the waste. The Italian government was forced to pay for the cleanup and ship the waste back home, but protests broke out at the ports where the waste was to be unloaded, in part because the ships were leaking and contaminating the local waters.

More and more of these scandals came to the public's notice because the press was becoming better informed about the international trade in toxic waste that began in the mid-1970s ("Nigeria Waste Imports" par. 8). The countries on the receiving end of these waste shipments tended to be developing and Eastern European nations, which caused organizations and citizens concerned with the exploitation of impoverished nations by developed nations to become increasingly vocal in their protests against this practice ("Basel Convention" par. 1). The result was the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. At the second Conference of the Parties, which took place in 1994, the Convention was amended to require member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to ban the export of all hazardous waste for disposal in non-OECD countries ("The Basel Convention Ban Amendment" par. 1). At this same meeting, a ban on the export of hazardous waste from EOCD to non-EOCD nations for the purpose of recycling or recovery went into effect at the end of 1997.

During the first decade of the Basel Convention's existence (1989 to 1999), its primary focus was controlling international shipments of hazardous waste and establishing criteria for environmentally sound management (ESM) of this waste ("Basel Convention" par. 2). The most recent decade has focused on implementing many of the elements within the treaty, including enforcement of bans and ESM of hazardous wastes in ratifying states. One of the central goals of the ESM criteria is to limit the movement of hazardous waste whenever possible, so that it is disposed of, recycled, treated, or reclaimed close to the point of creation ("Basel Convention" par. 8). This goal is intended to minimize the opportunity for spills and accidents during transport. If hazardous waste must be moved across national borders, then the treaty requires all nation states involved to generate formal notifications of intent to transport and the purpose of the shipment. If this paper trail is not generated, then the shipment is illegal under the Basel Convention. However, if shipping hazardous waste to another country can be shown to be more environmentally sound that treatment in the country of origin, then an exception can be made.

ESM under the Basel Convention encourages member and non-member states to minimize the generation of hazardous waste whenever possible ("Basel Convention" par. 11-12). In line with this philosophy, the Basel Convention has invested in research, training, and technology transfer to help member states meet their treaty obligations. Regional Centres for Training and Technology Transfer have been established in a number of developing countries that are treaty signatories. For example, Vietnam has recently ratified the Basel Convention, despite having no facilities to effectively process hazardous waste (Thai 261-262). Given that Vietnam is becoming more industrialized, the issue of hazardous waste has become a central concern for the country's leaders. Through its ratification of the treaty, Vietnam can now expect to receive significant assistance from the Convention in helping to design effective waste management policies.

The Basel Convention includes several other elements important to managing hazardous waste ("Basel Convention" par. 12-18). The definition of hazardous waste under the Convention includes toxins, poisons, explosives, flammables, corrosives, and infectious; however, specific lists of hazardous and non-hazardous have been generated by member states. Should an accident occur that releases hazardous material into the environment during international transport, the Convention provides a mechanism for determining liability and compensation. In addition, although the treaty contains wording about enforcement, the Basel Convention's policy is to encourage parties to minimize illegal shipments through prevention and other non-confrontational measures.