The Senior Officials Meeting on the 3R Initiative (SOM)was held in Tokyo, Japan, on 6-8 March 2006 and was hos-ted by the Ministry of Environment, Japan. Representativesfrom twenty countries participated in the meeting includingthe European Commission, eight international organiza-tions and networks, including the Basel ConventionSecretariat. The SOM was a follow-up to the MinisterialConference on the 3R Initiative held in Tokyo in April2005, which formally launched the Initiative by G8 leadersat the Sea Island Summit (please consult the BaselConvention Bulletin of July 2005http://www.basel.int/press/bulleting0705.pdf)

Presentations were made by countries and internationalorganizations on the progress, problems encountered with andactivities undertaken to implement the 3Rs. The meeting wasalso held to enable the sharing of knowledge on the advance-ment of activities from participating countries, to communica-te future directions in the implementation of the 3Rs and toconsider issues related to the transboundary movements of 3Rrelated goods, materials and products.

In her presentation, Ms. Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto, theExecutive Secretary of the Basel Convention, emphasized thatdifferent waste management options should be considered,taking into account the waste hierarchy. The environmental-ly sound management of waste should be applied to all wastes,whether hazardous or non-hazardous. She also proposed thatESM should be promoted at 3 levels: (i) nationally, the envi-ronmental performance of recycling markets should be impro-ved through regulations and voluntary measures, (ii) regional-ly, there should be a level playing field ensuring that the trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes is predictable, trans-parent and traceable, which could be achieved by fully imple-menting the Basel Convention, and (iii) globally, the BaselConvention promotes public-private partnerships to developguidelines, including on end-of-life products such as e-wastesand mobile phones. In parallel, two Working Groups conside-red the following issues: the promotion of international coope-ration, the cooperation among stakeholders and the promo-tion of science and technology.

The SOM facilitated the exchange of information and expe-riences for the promotion of 3Rs and recognized the differentlevels in development and needs of countries in the implemen-tation of the concept. The delegates supported the continua-tion of the dialogue and process and welcomed the proposal byJapan to organize regional activities in Asia while internationalorganizations announced various activities to jointly promote3Rs including sub-regional policy dialogues, the creation ofknowledge hubs on 3Rs and support to several countries inAsia to develop national 3R strategies.

In conjunction with the SOM, the Secretariat of the BaselConvention and the Ministry of Environment of Japan orga-nized a lunch seminar highlighting the implementation of theBasel Convention Partnership on the Environmentally SoundManagement of E-waste for the Asia-Pacific Region, as aconcrete contribution to the 3R Initiative. Consultations arebeing held with industry and financial institutions regardingtheir participation in support of the Partnership.

For more information, please contact :Mr. Ibrahim Shafii,Technical Programme Officer,Tel. +41 (0) 22 917 86 36,Email: Ibrahim.Shafii@unep.chor http://www.3rinitiative.jp

Dear Readers,

The April issue of the Basel Convention Bulletin coin-cides with our fifth Open-ended Working Group meeting(OEWG5). OEWG5 is the most significant step in thepreparations of the eighth meeting of the Conference ofthe Parties to the Basel Convention, which will take placefrom 27 November to 1 December in Nairobi, Kenya.

On the agenda of OEWG5 is the implementation of theBasel Convention Strategic Plan, in particular, the streamli-

ning of activities according to focus areas, which are basedon the priority waste streams established at COP7. A newbudget structure is proposed, organized according to theactivities performed by the Secretariat. The new structure isdivided into two main sections, namely Policy Directionand Operational Support, and Strategic Plan Focus Areas1.The proposed budget would be presented in two parts; first-ly, the services and resources required for the BaselConvention Trust Fund for the years 2007 and 2008; and,secondly, the services, resources and voluntary contributionsthat would be needed under the Basel Convention

Editorial-Basel Convention Bulletin April 2006

Tbc page 2

1

INSIDE:

l Editorial SBC Bulletin 1-2l Senior Officials Meeting

on the 3R Initiative 1l APFED Expert Meeting

on the 3R Initiative 2l International Conference on

Chemicals Management--SAICM 3l New Impetus for Co-ordinated l Call for Submissions of National

Legislation on Basel Convention 3Approach to Ship Recycling 4

l Regional Workshop on Obstaclesto Ratification of or Accession tothe Basel Protocol on Liabilityand Compensation 5

l Second Steering CommitteeMeeting of Used Lead AcidBatteries Project in Latin America 5

l Project on the Preparation ofNational Inventories and NationalPlans for the ESM of PCBs andPCB Containing Equipmentin Central America 5

l Call for Information on Article 11Agreements and Arrangement 5

l International Workshop on Reasonsand Remedies for SustainableHealth Care Waste Management 5

l Consultative Meeting on ObsoletePesticides Managementin the Caribbean 6

l Informal Consultation Meetingon the ESM of Used Oilsin the Caribbean 6

l Update on the Mobile PhonePartnership Initiative 6

l International Seminar on NewTrends in Hazardous andMedical Waste Management-

l BCRC for Southeast Asia--First Steering Committee Meeting 7

l High-Level Meeting on Compliancewith and Enforcement of MEAs 7

l List of Upcoming Meetings 8l List of Upcoming BCRC Meetings 8

1 These are: 1. Global programmes: E-waste (Mobile Phones, E-waste global partnership), Illegal traffic, Ship dismantling, Liability and 2. Regional programmes: E-waste (Asia and Pacific, Latin America), POPs (West Africa,Central America), Illegal traffic (Central and Eastern Europe), Biomedical and healthcare waste (Africa), Used lead acid batteries (Caribbean, Mediterranean), National legislation (SIDS, LDCs, LLDCs), Used oil (Africa,Caribbean, Mediterranean), Municipalities (Latin America, Mediterranean, SIDS), Obsolete pesticides (Caribbean, Central Asia).

H.E. Mrs. Koike, Minister of the Environment, Japan,showing Mottainai Furoshiki wrapping cloths

made from recycled material - Photo SBC

Senior Officials Meeting on the 3R Initiative, Tokyo, Japan

April 2006

One World, Don’t Waste It www.basel.int

Technical Cooperation Trust Fund to execute pro-posed activities and finance participation at meetingsof the Parties.

For discussion is also the matter of sustainablefinancing. As part of the Secretariat’s study on the exa-mination of Article 14 and the Resource MobilizationStrategy, options for short-term, mid-term and long-term action to enhance sustainability and predictabi-lity of adequate resources for the Convention’s imple-mentation, with a special emphasis on the the role ofthe Global Environment Facility, will be presented.The aim is the most effective mechanisms for securingnecessary resources for the Basel Convention through

a review of available options.

The strengthening of the administrative and institu-tional capacity of the Basel Convention Regional andCoordinating Centres (BCRCs) as well as their stream-lining into an operational network will also be placed atthe forefront of our discussions. Against the backdropof the BCRCs’ role in both the implementation of theBasel Convention and the creation of synergies at theregional level, their activities can be streamlined intotwo areas; the focal areas of the Strategic Plan and theassessment of regional needs for the environmentallysound management of hazardous and other wastes.

In light of the Synergies Study being preparedpursuant to decision I/18 adopted by the first mee-ting of the Conference of the Parties to theStockholm Convention and the SupplementaryAnalysis of Financial and AdministrativeArrangements to be prepared pursuant to the deci-sion adopted by the second meeting of theConference of the Parties to the RotterdamConvention, the examination of cooperation andsynergies has been placed on the agenda for conside-ration at OEWG5 in order to make a recommenda-tion at COP8.

In this issue of the Basel Convention Bulletin, youwill also find articles on the next steps of the 3R

Initiative launched at the G8 Summit in Japan inApril 2005, updates on key projects run by BCRCsand news on the Joint Working Group on ShipScrapping with substantive discussions for conside-ration in the development of a new legal instrumenton ship recycling.

The issues linked to the transboundary move-ments and management of hazardous and otherwastes evolve continuously and rapidly. New wastestreams need our sustained attention, such as usedelectrical and electronic equipment or the dismant-ling of obsolete ships, which are now high on theagenda of international environmental diplomacy.

In order to support the Basel Convention as itadapts to a rapidly changing world where new andemergent waste issues are compounding the growingproblems of illegal traffic of hazardous wastes acrossnational boundaries, and to ensure its sound imple-mentation, one of the overarching issues needing tobe addressed by Parties remains the securing of ade-quate resources for the next biennium and beyond.I wish you fruitful and proactive discussions.

By Sachiko Kuwabara-YamamotoExecutive SecretaryBasel Convention

Dr. Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto

The Asia Pacific Forum for Environment andDevelopment (APFED), in collaboration withthe Ministry of Environment, Japan, convenedan expert meeting on the 3R Initiative in Asia on6 March 2006 at the United Nations Universityin Tokyo, at which the Secretariat of the BaselConvention participated. The meeting wasattended by technical experts and representativesfrom national governments, research institutes,industry, non-governmental and internationalorganizations.

The meeting discussed the implementation,promotion and international cooperation aroundthe 3R Initiative in Asia and the Pacific. TheSecretariat of the Basel Conventon made a presen-tation in which the Basel Convention’s contribu-tions to the promotion of the 3Rs through theapplication of the principle of the environmental-

ly sound management of hazardous and other

wastes was highlighted. Further, the Secretariatinformed the meeting that international coopera-tion to promote the 3R Initiative in Asia underthe Basel Convention is implemented throughpartnership programmes which focus on integra-ted waste management and the life-cycle approa-ch. A number of initiatives have been undertakento promote the environmentally sound manage-ment of hazardous wastes in Asia which include(1) 2005-2006 Global Partnership Programme one-Waste, (2) Partnership Programme onEnvironmentally Sound Management ofElectronic and Electrical Wastes in the Asia PacificRegion, and (3) Mobile Phone PartnershipInitiative.

The outcome and recommendations of the mee-ting formed the basis for the Senior OfficialsMeeting on the 3R Initiative that was held on 6-8March 2006 in Tokyo (please see relevant article).

For more information, please contact :Mr. Ibrahim Shafii,Technical Programme Officer,Tel. +41 (0) 22 917 86 36,Email: Ibrahim.Shafii@unep.chor http://www.iges.or.jp

For background informationon the 3R Initiative-“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”

please consult the July 2005copy of the Basel Convention Bulletin

http://www.basel.int/press/bulleting0705.pdf

APFED Expert Meeting on the 3R Initiative in Asia, Tokyo, Japan

2

Photo Still Pictures

www.basel.int

SAICM’s purpose is to achieve increased efficiencyand coherence in international chemicals manage-ment, and to fill existing gaps in chemicals mana-gement at the national, regional and global levels,covering all aspects of chemical safety.

UNEP Governing Council, at its seventh SpecialSession in February 2002, adopted DecisionSS.VII/3 on a “Strategic Approach to InternationalChemicals Management” (SAICM). TheGoverning Council decided that there was a needto further develop a strategic approach and endor-sed as a foundation for such an approach, the IFCSBahia Declaration and Priorities for ActionBeyond 2000. The initiative was subsequentlyendorsed by the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment in Johannesburg in September 2002.In February 2003 a progress report was consideredby UNEP Governing Council. The Council adop-ted decision 22/4 IV endorsing the concept of aninternational conference to be held around the endof 2005.

A first preparatory meeting, SAICM PrepCom1,

was held in Bangkok on 9-13 November 2003, fol-

lowing on from the IFCS Forum IV meeting.

SAICM PrepCom2 was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on

4-8 October 2004. SAICM PrepCom3 took place

in Vienna, Austria, on 19-24 September 2005. An

"International Conference on Chemicals

Management" (ICCM) to adopt the completed

SAICM took place in Dubai, United Arab

Emirates, on 4-6 February 2006.

The ICCM adopted the Dubai Declaration,an Overarching Policy and Strategy, a GlobalPlan of Actions and ICCM Resolutions.

The overall objective of SAICM is the soundmanagement of chemicals throughout their life-cycle so that by 2020 chemicals are used and pro-duced in ways that lead to the minimization ofsignificant adverse effects on human health and theenvironment. Its scope includes (1) the environ-mental, economic, social, health and labour aspectsof chemical safety and (2) agricultural and indus-trial chemicals, with a view to promoting sustai-nable development and covering chemicals at allstages of their life-cycle, including in products andwastes. SAICM does not cover chemical productsto the extent that their health and environmentalsafety aspects are regulated by a domestic food orpharmaceutical authority or arrangement.

The Dubai Declaration on International

Chemicals Management affirms that the soundmanagement of chemicals is essential for the achie-vement of sustainable development, including theeradication of poverty and disease and the impro-vement of human health and the environment. Itrecognizes that significant but insufficient progresshas been achieved in international chemicalsmanagement through various treaties and agree-ments, and the efforts of the private sector and civilsociety. Fundamental changes are mentioned asbeing needed in the way societies manage chemi-cals in order to achieve chemical safety, combatpoverty, protect vulnerable groups, and advancepublic health and human security from chemicalsby 2020. Capacity building and gaps in chemicalmanagement have to be strengthened in order toachieve the sound management of chemicals andhazardous wastes at all levels, and to continuemobilizing national and international financingfrom public and private sources.

ICCM AND THE BASEL CONVENTION

For the Basel Convention, the inclusion of thelife cycle approach as one of the main principles ofSAICM is a welcome achievement. The DubaiDeclaration also puts emphasis on the promotionof the environmentally sound management of che-micals and hazardous wastes as a priority. Theimplementation of multilateral environmentalagreements and their synergies and coherence, andthe prevention of illegal traffic in toxic, hazardouschemical products and wastes are also underlinedin the Declaration. In the Global Plan of Action,the role of the Basel Convention Secretariat and ofthe Basel Convention Regional Centres (BCRCs)are well entrenched in relation to appropriate workareas and activities. The BCRCs are uniquely posi-tioned to steer regional efforts in the wider contextof the sound management of wastes and chemicals.Therefore, their active participation in the imple-mentation of the Global Plan of Actions couldmake a significant contribution to achieving the2020 goal.

For more information, please contact:Mr. Ibrahim Shafii,Technical Programme Officer,Tel. +41 (0) 22 917 86 36,Email: Ibrahim.Shafii@unep.ch

For SAICM official documents, please go to:http://www.chem.unep.ch/saicm/

International Conference on Chemicals Management-Strategic Approach to International Chemicals

Management, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

BCRC for the ArabStates-Meetings of the Steering

Committee (SCC) and the ProjectSteering Committee (PSC) held in

Cairo on 15 March 2006.

The first meeting of the Steering Committee of theCentre (SCC-1) was held in Cairo on 14 March2006 to evaluate the Centre's activities. The mem-bers of the SCC are: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisiaand United Arab Emirates, nominated by theParties served by the Centre, the Director of theCentre, and the Secretariat of the BaselConvention, ex officio. The members of theSteering Committee elected by consensus are Mr.Adel El Shafee of Egypt as the Chairperson and Dr.Mohammed ElKhashasna of Jordan as the Vice-Chairperson. Representatives of the Governmentsof Libya and Finland and of two NGOs also atten-ded. The meeting established the SCC as the gover-ning body of the Centre.

It also provided the Project Steering Committee(PSC) with the mandate to manage the project“Capacity Building for the Implementation of theBasel Convention” funded by Finland. The PCS iscomposed of nine members, the same members asthe SCC and representatives of the Governments ofBahrain and Finland. The first meeting of the PSCreviewed and approved the work programme of theproject for 2006, and set a budget of US$390,415for 2006.

For more information, please contact:Mr. Nelson Sabogal,Senior Programme Officer, SBC,Tel: +41 (0) 22 917 82 12,Email: Nelson.Sabogal@unep.ch

The Secretariat of the Basel Convention main-tains a collection of national legislation and mea-sures of the Parties to the Convention to implementthe Basel Convention, both in hard copy and inelectronic form. These can be found on the SBCwebsite at the following URL:http://www.basel.int/legalmatters/natleg/frset-main.html. (some texts are only available in thenational language of the country concerned).

The Secretariat notes that, the Conventionrequires that Parties introduce appropriate natio-nal/domestic legislation to prevent and punish ille-gal traffic and, under the Convention, the Partiesconsider that illegal traffic is criminal. TheSecretariat would particularly welcome receivingtexts of legislation or other measures establishingcriminal penalties for illegal traffic.

Please send national legislation texts to:Ms. Donata Rugarabamu,Senior Legal Officer, SBC,and by e-mail: legalSBC@unep.ch

Call for Submissions of NationalLegislation on Basel Convention

3

The Joint Working Group on Ship Scrappingestablished by the International MaritimeOrganization (IMO), the International LabourOrganization (ILO) and the Parties to the BaselConvention convened in Geneva on 12-14December 2005. The meeting was hosted by theSecretariat of the Basel Convention on behalf of thethree Organizations at the UN Headquarters inGeneva.

Since the first meeting of the Joint WorkingGroup in February 2005, the IMO’s Assembly adop-ted a resolution seeking the development of a legallybinding instrument on ship recycling. The resolutionnoted the role of the Basel Convention and the ILOon this issue. This instrument would provide globalregulations on the design, construction, operationand preparation of ships so as to facilitate safe andenvironmentally sound recycling. It would alsoencompass the operation of environmentally soundship recycling and the establishment of an appropria-te enforcement mechanism for ship recycling.

The Joint Working Group made recommendationsfor consideration in the development of the new ins-trument and substantive discussions took place on;

u The experience of prior informed consent forship recycling between States;

u Requirements of a reporting system for ships des-tined for scrapping;

u Basic principles of an applicable control mecha-nism;

u Pre-cleaning and preparation of ships; u Practical approaches that promote occupational

health and safety and environmentally soundmanagement of ship scrapping;

u Possible roles of concerned States, such as flagStates, port States and recycling States in thecontext of occupational health and safety and the

environmentally sound management of shipscrapping and the potential benefits of a manda-tory ship recycling plan.

In parallel to the development of a new instru-ment on ship recycling, an International ShipRecycling Fund may beestablished in the nearfuture in its support.

The Joint WorkingGroup also discussedprogress made inongoing activities such asthe promotion of theimplementation of gui-delines on ship recycling,the examination of rele-vant ILO, IMO andBasel ConventionGuidelines on ShipRecycling, as well as jointtechnical co-operation activities. An IMO work-shop on technical aspects of ship recycling earlierthis year in Izmir, Turkey, was noted as a useful pre-cedent for the participation of the three organiza-tions in each other’s activities.

The Joint Working Group recommended thateach Organization invite the other twoOrganizations to participate in the workshops orseminars organized by the Organization and thateach Organization include in the programme of itsactivities a section providing information on theGuidelines of the other two Organizations.Governments and other stakeholders are also invi-ted to provide information to the threeOrganizations on any technical co-operation activi-ties or other relevant initiatives already launched orplanned so that these activities could be taken into

account in the future technical co-operation pro-grammes of the Organizations.

The Joint Working Group was set up by the threeOrganizations to act as a platform for consultation,co-ordination and co-operation in relation to their

work programmes and activities with regard toissues related to ship scrapping. The Group aims topromote a co ordinated approach to the relevantaspects of ship scrapping in order to avoid duplica-tion of work and overlapping of roles, responsibili-ties and competencies between the threeOrganizations. It also aims at identifying furtherneeds relating to ship scrapping globally.

The full report of the meeting is on:http://www.basel.int/legalmatters/ilo-imo-sbc-wg/frsetmain.html

For more information, please contact:Ms. Donata Rugarabamu,Senior Legal Officer, SBC,Tel. +41 (0) 22 917 82 19,Email: Donata.Rugarabamu@unep.ch

New Impetus for Co-ordinated Approach to Ship Recycling

One World, Don’t Waste It www.basel.int

Status of Ratifications

The Basel Convention has 168 Parties. Since our last Bulletin, Sudan and the Central African Republic acceded to the Convention on 9 January 2006and 24 February 2006, respectively. Both Indonesia and Albania became a Party to the Ban Amendment, on 24 October 2005 and on 27 October 2005respectively, bringing the total of Parties to 61. There were no further accessions to the Protocol, leaving its number of Contracting Parties to 7.

The following United Nations Members are not yet a Party to the Basel Convention:

4

1. Afghanistan2. Angola3. Congo (Republic of the -)4. Democratic People's

Republic of Korea5. Fiji6. Gabon

7. Grenada8. Haïti9. Iraq10. Lao People's

Democratic Republic11. Myanmar12. Palau

13. San Marino14. Sao Tomé & Principe15. Sierra Leone16. Solomon Islands17. Somalia18. Suriname19. Tajikistan

20. Timor-Leste21. Tonga22. Tuvalu23. United States24. Vanuatu25. Zimbabwe

Photo Still Pictures

Outcomes of 2nd Steering CommitteeMeeting of Used Lead Acid Batteries

Project in Latin America

www.basel.int

The Second Steering Committee of the project entitled‘Regional Strategy for the Environmentally SoundManagement of Used Lead Acid Batteries (ULAB Project)was organised jointly by the Basel Convention RegionalCentre in El Salvador (BCRC-El Salvador) and theCaribbean Centre of Trinidad and Tobago (BCRC-Trinidad and Tobago) on 24-26 January 2006 with thesupport of the Basel Convention Secretariat. The followingcountries participated; Barbados, Colombia, Costa Rica,Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad andTobago as well as the Central American Commission onEnvironment and Development (CCAD), EnvironmentWest Indies (EWI, Martinique), University of West Indies(UWI), International Lead Management Center (ILMC),and from El Salvador the Ministries of Environment andNatural Resources, Finances, Health, Baterías El Salvador,Baterías Laser-El Salvador, University of El Salvador, FireDepartment, National Policy.

The discussions were conducted by three WorkingGroups: Technical matters, Legal matters, and Economicand Financial Strategy and Political Support. The meetingreviewed the draft regional strategy developed in collabora-tion with governmental, industrial, academic and interna-tional organizations to achieve the environmentally soundmanagement of ULAB.

The presentations focused on the status of implementa-tion of the project, on the Environmentally SoundManagement (ESM) of ULAB in the participating coun-tries, on the ULAB Training Manual and on the principlesof the environmentally sound management of ULAB andthe Green Lead Initiative. The national presentations allo-wed for exchanges of experiences between countries. Thediscussion of the Second Meeting of the SteeringCommittee

For more information, please contact:Mr. Nelson Sabogal,Senior Programme Officer, SBC,Tel: +41 (0) 22 917 82 12,Email: Nelson.Sabogal@unep.ch

By Article 11, paragraph 2 of the Convention, Partiesare required to inform the Secretariat of any bilateral,multilateral or regional agreements or arrangementsregarding movements of hazardous wastes or otherwastes. Parties are requested to transmit all such agree-ments and arrangements that they have entered into.Texts should be transmitted in one of the UnitedNations languages. The Secretariat would like to placethe texts of such agreements on the Basel Conventionwebsite, to provide an information resource for all thoseengaged in the transboundary movement of hazardouswastes and other wastes.

Please send national legislation texts to:Ms. Donata Rugarabamu,Senior Legal Officer, SBC,and by e-mail: legalSBC@unep.ch

The Basel Convention Secretariat participated in anInternational Seminar on New Trends in Hazardous andMedical Waste Management at Okayama University on 24February 2006 and in an International Workshop on Reasonsand Remedies for Sustainable Health Care Waste Managementon 27 February 2006 at the United Nations University in Tokyo.Both events dealt with biomedical and healthcare wastes, a prio-rity waste stream identified by the Strategic Plan and theMinisterial Statement of the Basel Convention. These work-shops provided a unique opportunity to gain an understandingof the development and implementation of sustainable waste

management strategies for healthcare facilities. The BaselConvention presented the “Basel Convention TechnicalGuidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management ofBiomedical and Healthcare Wastes” as well as the “GuidanceManual on the Preparation of National Health-Care WasteManagement Plans in Sub-Saharan Countries”. The activities ofthe Basel Convention Regional Centres in health-care wastemanagement were also presented.For more information, please contact:Mr. Nelson Sabogal, Senior Programme Officer, SBC,tel: +41 (0) 22 917 82 12, email: Nelson.Sabogal@unep.ch

Regional Workshop Aimed at Addressing Aspects andObstacles to the Process of Ratification of or Accession

to the Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation

The Basel Convention Secretariat organized aregional workshop aimed at promoting the ratifica-tion of the Protocol on Liability and Compensationfor Damage Resulting from TransboundaryMovements of Hazardous Wastes and theirDisposal (the Liability Protocol) in Warsaw, on 18-20 January 2006. The workshop was jointly organi-zed by the Chief Inspector for EnvironmentalProtection in Poland and the Basel ConventionRegional Centre in Bratislava and was supportedby the Technical Assistance Information ExchangeInstrument of the European Union (TAIEX).

The workshop is the latest in a series of workshopson the Liability Protocol, organized to identify theproblems faced by countries in the region in order tofacilitate and to promote its ratification, as well as toshare the experiences and solutions to the problemsfaced when implementing the Protocol into domesticlegislation.

The workshop was attended by experts currentlyinvolved in the implementation of the BaselConvention at the national level and in the process ofratification of international treaties, as well as byexperts who would be involved in the practical imple-

mentation of the Liability Protocol at the nationallevel once that instrument is ratified. The countriesrepresented were: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, FYR ofMacedonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova,Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and theSlovak Republic.

The meeting was also a platform to discuss the cur-rent status of the European Union legislation on trans-boundary movements of wastes, in particular, theWaste Shipment Regulation and the Directive onEnvironmental Liability, and the changes foreseen tothe waste shipment regulation, and to analyse thepotential discrepancies between the Liability Protocoland the EU legislation. The participant countries sug-gested that SBC should start a dialogue with theEuropean Union with the aim of finding possiblesolutions for the ratification of the Liability Protocolby Member States.

For more information, please contact:Ms Donata Rugarabamu,Senior Legal Officer, SBC,Tel. +41 (0) 22 917 82 19,email: Donata.Rugarabamu@unep.ch

Project on the Preparation of National Inventories andNational Plans for the Environmentally Sound Managementof PCBs and PCB Containing Equipment in Central America

The implementation of the project on nationalinventories and national action plans for the environ-mentally sound management of PCBs and PCBcontaining equipment in Central America has reachedits final phase. In January and February 2006, coun-tries of the region carried out their second nationalworkshops and presented their preliminary inventoriesof PCB containing equipment. They also presentedtheir draft national action plans for the environmental-ly sound management (ESM) of PCBs by 2025, whichis the deadline set by the Stockholm Convention forphasing out PCB containing equipment.

The results presented at the national meetings showthat countries will be able to prepare PCB inventoriesof all large transformers and the facilities used for elec-tricity production and transmission. Based on the

assessment of existing national legislation in the parti-cipating countries, one expected outcome of the pro-ject will be a harmonized draft national legislationwhich implements the Basel, Rotterdam andStockholm Conventions. The final regional meeting ofthe project will take place on 26-28 April 2006 in ElSalvador. Final reports are expected end of May 2006.The project will be the basis for follow up regional acti-vities aiming at the final disposal of PCBs in theCentral American region.

For more information and to obtain a summary ofthe meeting, please contact:Mr. Andreas Arlt,Programme Officer, SBC,Tel. 41 (22) 917 83 64,Email: andreas.arlt@unep.ch

5

Call for Information on Article 11Agreements and Arrangements

International Seminar on New Trends in Hazardous and Medical WasteManagement - International Workshop on Reasons and Remedies for

Sustainable Health Care Waste Management-Japan

The Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative, ini-tiated by the Basel Convention under the leader-ship of the Swiss Government, is a uniquepublic-private partnership composed of expertsfrom Parties and Signatories to the BaselConvention, Basel Convention Regional andCoordinating Centres, representatives of mobilephone manufacturers, telecom operators, refur-bishers, recyclers, environmental and industrialNGOs and representatives of the BaselConvention Secretariat.

The goal of the MPPI is to promote, worldwide,the environmentally sound management of usedand end-of-life mobile phones.

Marco Buletti (Switzerland, chair of the MobilePhone Working Group) mentioned: “The MPPI isa successful example of a Public Private Partnershipwithin the framework of the Basel Convention.With the experience gained, it should help conduc-ting further international Partnerships of theConvention”.

The MPPI work programme, in its first phase,focused on developing five individual Guidelines,dealing with the refurbishment of used mobilephones, collection, transboundary movements,material recovery and recycling of end-of-life mobi-le phones, and awareness raising on design conside-rations.

As of today four Guidelines (collection, refur-bishment, material recovery and recycling, and awa-reness raising on design considerations) have beenapproved by the Mobile Phone Working Group(MPWG) under the OEWG and will soon be madeavailable in printed form for implementation andtraining through the countries and the BaselConvention Regional and Coordinating Centers. It

will also be of help to the industry involved.

The recommendations and executive summariesof the Guidelines have been incorporated into anoverall Guidance Document on EnvironmentallySound Management of Used and End-of-LifeMobile Phones, which will be submitted to theeighth meeting of the Conference of Parties to theBasel Convention (COP 8) for consideration andapproval.

The project group dealing with transboundarymovement issues made good progress.Nevertheless, discussions in this working group arestill ongoing. It is foreseen that these lastGuidelines should be finalized within the next fewmonths.

In the second phase, the MPPI working groupwill focus on preparing and initiating concrete pilotprojects in the field on collection and treatmentschemes for used and end-of-life mobile phones indeveloping countries and countries with economiesin transition, as agreed by the work programme.The objective is to test the effectiveness of therecommendations on collection and treatmentschemes and to test the Guidelines that have beendeveloped by the various project groups. The aim isalso to raise awareness on the importance andpotential of local action and planning of successfultake back schemes for used and end-of-life mobilephones. In parallel to the pilot projects, a similarproject will be undertaken by France TelecomOrange in Senegal. The information and data col-lected will be shared between all pilot projects aspart of the MPPI.

“The concrete pilot projects of the MPPI will bean important and measurable result of theInitiative, which should also increase awarenessconcerning the worldwide issue of electrical andelectronic waste“ said Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto, Executive Secretary of the BaselConvention.

In addition to pilot projects on collection sys-tems, two pilot projects were initiated in Februaryto test the Guidelines on the Refurbishment ofUsed Mobile Phones. Two refurbishment compa-nies, Fonebak (UK) and ReCellular (USA), agreedto test these Guidelines for six months, and to pre-pare recommendations for the MPWG’s considera-tion, identifying areas that need improvements orchanges.

For more information, please contact:Ms. Claudia Fénérol,Senior Programme Officer,Email: Claudia.fenerol@unep.chTel. +41 (0) 22 917 86 76,Fax +41 (0) 22 797 34 54

One World, Don’t Waste It www.basel.intPublic-Private Partnerships: an Update on the Mobile

Phone Partnership InitiativeIn order to prepare for the launching of the project for

the final disposal of existing obsolete pesticides and selec-ted Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the preven-tion of future accumulation in the Caribbean, the BaselConvention Secretariat, UNEP Chemicals and the BaselConvention Regional Centre in Trinidad and Tobagoorganised a meeting on 23-24 March 2006 in Macoya,Tunapuna. This meeting set up of a road map for the pro-ject, based on a document which had been previously sentto all the countries of the region. In the short-term, theproject aims to remove all stockpiles of obsolete pesticidesfrom the countries participating in the project in an effi-cient and cost-effective manner. In the long-term, theobjective is to enhance the collective capacity of the parti-cipating countries in planning and implementing theirnational policies for the environmentally sound manage-ment of pesticides in compliance with the Stockholm andthe Basel Conventions, taking into consideration the enti-re life-cycle of pesticides. The participating countries areAntigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados,Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, SaintVincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and,Belize, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana,Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname.

For more information and to obtain a summary of themeeting, please contact:Mr. Andreas Arlt, Programme Officer, SBC,Tel. 41 (22) 917 83 64,Email: andreas.arlt@unep.ch

The Secretariat of the Basel Convention and the BaselConvention Regional Centre in Trinidad and Tobagoorganised an informal consultation meeting on 21-22March 2006 on the regional project for the environmen-tally sound management (ESM) of used oils in theCaribbean. The meeting was held in Macoya, Tunapuna,Trinidad and Tobago, as a follow up to the 2004 work-shop on the management of used oils in the Caribbean.The meeting mapped out the next steps of the projectwhich include country desk studies, a legal review ofnational and regional legislation and recommendations inorder to develop a regional strategy for the ESM of usedoils in the Caribbean region. Focal points of the Basel andMARPOL Conventions in the region, as well as represen-tatives from the International Maritime Organisation(IMO), the UN Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD), the University of the West Indies, localnon-governmental organisations and industry, attendedthe meeting.

The project’s over-arching aim is the creation of apublic-private partnership to prevent soil and groundwa-ter contamination from spills of used mineral oil. Theexamined management methods cover systems for collec-tion, storage, transport, recycling and final disposal ofused oils at the end of their life-cycle.

For more information and to obtain a summary of themeeting, please contact:Mr. Andreas Arlt, Programme Officer, SBC,Tel. 41 (22) 917 83 64,Email: andreas.arlt@unep.ch

6

Consultative Meeting on ObsoletePesticides Management in the Caribbean

Informal Consultation Meeting on theEnvironmentally Sound Management

of Used Oils in the Caribbean Photo Still Pictures

www.basel.int

The first meeting of theSteering Committee of theBasel Convention RegionalCentre (BCRC) forSoutheast Asia was held on27 February 2006 inJakarta, Indonesia. Themeeting was attended bydelegates from Cambodia,Indonesia, Malaysia,Singapore and Thailand,representatives from theSecretariat of Basel Convention and theASEAN Secretariat. Mr. Yanuardi Rasudin,the Deputy Minister for Toxic andHazardous Substances and WasteManagement, Ministry of Environment,Republic of Indonesia, opened the meeting.In his address, Mr. Rasudin stated his wishfor the meeting to meet the capacity buil-ding needs of Parties in the region in theimplementation of the Basel Conventionimplementation.

The Steering Committee was established inline with the requirements of the FrameworkAgreement which established the BCRC forSoutheast Asia that was signed in October2004. The Meeting elected the Mr. TjandraSetiadi from Indonesia as Chairperson andMr. Joseph Hui from Singapore as ViceChairperson. Mr. Ken Choviran fromCambodia, Mr. Tengku Bakry Shah binTengku Johan from Malaysia, and Mrs. SuneePiyapanpong from Thailand were electedmembers of the Steering Committee.

A key agenda item for the SteeringCommittee was the endorsement of theBusiness Plan for 2006-2010, as developed bythe Director, Mr. Aboejoewono Aboeprajitno.The Steering Committee also discussed proce-dural issues. It identified the training of cus-toms officers as one of the most importantpriorities, together with the integration ofindustry in future activities (see box).

Speaking on behalf of the Secretariat ofBasel Convention, Mr. Ibrahim Shafii expres-sed his gratitude to all stakeholders and saidthat the issue of synergies in the chemicals andwaste domains had recently become promi-nent among governments, UNEP and otherintergovernmental organizations –such as the

Intergovernmental EnvironmentalGovernance (IEG) discussion and theStrategic Approach to International ChemicalsManagement (SAICM). In this connection,Basel Convention Regional Centres need toassess how they can contribute to synergies byidentifying areas where similar goals are sharedbetween the waste and chemicals conventions.

Selected activities to be implemented by theBCRC-SEA, subject to available funding:

u Regional Workshop Aimed at Promoting theRatification of the Protocol on Liability andCompensation for Damage Resulting fromTransboundary Movements of HazardousWastes and their Disposal

u National Inventories of Hazardous Waste(NIHW)

u Environmentally Sound Management ofElectrical and Electronic Waste in SouthEast Asia

u Training for Policy Makers, Customs andLaw Enforcement Officials in the area ofHazardous Waste Management & BaselConvention Implementation

u Training on HW Minimization &Technology Assessment

u Developed and Up-to-dated Website ofBCRC-SEA

u Study on Obsolete POPs and DestructionTechnology

u Study on a waste exchange system develop-ment among ASEAN countries for recycling

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Ibrahim Shafii,Technical Programme Officer,Tel. +41 (0) 22 917 86 36,Email: Ibrahim.Shafii@unep.ch

Basel Convention Regional Centre for SoutheastAsia--First Steering Committee Meeting

7

Meeting of the Representativesof Permanent Missions in Geneva

of Host Countries of BaselConvention Regional Centres

High-Level Meeting on Envisioningthe Next Steps for Compliancewith and Enforcement of MEAs

On 3 February 2006, the Ambassador ofUruguay in Geneva convened, as Presidency ofthe Seventh meeting of the Conference of theParties, a high-level meeting of representatives,in Geneva, of host countries of Basel ConventionRegional and Coordinating Centres.

The aim was to exchange views on issues such asthe activities of the Centers and possible commonapproaches to strengthen their operations and sus-tainability.

The meeting agreed that priority should be givento raising the profile of the work of the Centers andthat promotional activities could be undertaken atthe national level for this purpose, involving theprivate sector where appropriate. When discussingthe issue of synergies between the waste and chemi-cals conventions, the meeting acknowledged, inparticular, the importance of cooperation betweenthe Basel and Stockholm Conventions, whilenoting that other institutions may also play a partin enhancing such cooperation.

The meeting indicated that the principle ofsynergies should be supported but that an in-depthanalysis on the modus operandi should be carriedout, and that a step-by-step approach should beadopted.

For more information, please contact:Mr. Pierre Portas,Deputy Executive Secretary,Tel. +41 (0) 22 917 82 17, Email: Pierre.Portas@unep.ch

The High-Level Meeting on Envisioning theNext Steps for Compliance with and Enforcementof MEAs was organized by UNEP’s Division ofEnvironmental Conventions and convened inColombo, Sri Lanka, in January 2006. Participantsdiscussed the technical aspects of compliance andenforcement and searched for potential legal, struc-tural and institutional innovations that couldenhance the implementation of MultilateralEnvironmental Agreements (MEAs). The BaselConvention was represented by Mr. RoyWatkinson in his capacity of Chair of theCompliance Committee of the Basel Convention.The issues requiring more work, research, capacitybuilding and resources in the future are listed in aChair’s Summary under the following headings;“Institutional Structures”, “Interlinkages” and“Instruments to Improve Implementation”.

The full report of the meeting can be downloadedfrom:http://www.iisd.ca/download/asc/sd/ymb-vol121num1e.txt

Photo SBC

Basel Convention Bulletin

Basel Convention BulletinSecretariat of the Basel Convention13-15 chemin des Anémones1219 Geneva - Switzerland

© Copyright 2005 UNEP

Contact: Nicole DaweInformation OfficerTel: +41(0) 22-917-82 20Fax: +41(0) 22-797-34 54Email: Nicole.Dawe@unep.chwww.basel.int

30 March 2006 Geneva, UK Meeting of the Mobile Phone Working Group3-7 April 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Fifth Session of the Basel Convention Open-ended Working Group5 April 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Meeting of the Mobile Phone Working Group8-9 April 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Basel Convention Compliance Committee Meeting (fourth session)28-29 April 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Open-ended Ad hoc Working Group on Non-Compliance-Stockholm

Convention1-5 May 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Second Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm

Convention1-12 May 2006 New York, USA 14th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14)10-12 May 2006 New York, USA High-level Session of CSD 142-5 May 2006 London, UK IMO/UNEP Forum on Regional Cooperation in Combating Marine

Pollution8-10 May 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Second Consultation Meeting on PCB Management and Disposal

under the Stockholm Convention5-9 June 2006 Washington DC, USA Consultations and GEF Council Meeting26-28 June 2006 Rome, Italy 9th Meeting of OECD WGWPR (Waste Prevention and Recycling)6-7 October 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Third Meeting of the Basel Convention Expanded Bureau of COP79-13 October 2006 Geneva, Switzerland Third Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam

Convention27 Nov.-1 Dec. 2006 Nairobi, Kenya Eighth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention/

Governing body of Basel Convention with High-level Segment4-8 December 2006 Washington DC, USA Consultations and Global Environmental Facility Council Meeting

List of Upcoming Basel Convention Meetingsand Meetings of Relevance to the Basel Convention

14-15 March 2006 Cairo, Egypt Meetings of the Steering Committee of the Centre (SCC) and the BCRC-Egypt Project Steering Committee (PSC)

23-24 March 2006 Macoya, Tunapuna Consultative meeting on obsolete pesticides management in the Caribbeanin Trinidad and TobagoBCRC-Trinidad and Tobago

19-21 April 2006 Trinidad and Tobago 3rd Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Project "Preparation BCRC-Trinidad and Tobago of a regional strategy for the environmentally sound management of

used lead-acid batteries in Latin America and the Caribbean"24-26 April 2006 Bratislava, Slovak Republic Workshop on ESM of Used Oils

BCRC-Slovakia26-28 April 2006 San Salvador, El Salvador Regional workshop on the preparation of National Inventories and national

BCRC El Salvador action plans for PCB and PCB containing equipment in Central America"21-23 June 2006 Bratislava, Slovak Republic Workshop on Safe and Effective Detection, Investigation, Prosecution of

BCRC-Slovakia Illegal Traffic of Hazardous and Other WastesAugust 2006 Uruguay Workshop to disseminate the results of the "Pilot program for the

BCRC-Uruguay minimization of impacts generated by hazardous waste"September 2006 Cairo, Egypt Workshop aimed at promoting Ratification of the Protocol on Liability

BCRC-Egypt and CompensationOctober 2006 Bahrein Workshop on the recycling of used oils

BCRC EgyptTo be determined LAC Countries Internet Modality Courses within the Framework of Environmental

BCRC-Uruguay Management of Hazardous WastesTo be determined To be determined Workshop for the Southeast Asian region on Liability Protocol Meeting

List of Upcoming Meetings ofBasel Convention Regional and Coordinating Centres

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