space Press Releases, News Stories

by Camila Reed, Reuters

Pierre Portas, the Convention's technical director, told Reuters by telephone from Basel, Switzerland, that India's change of heart was a warning to the Convention that it should be careful how it interpreted the export ban so that it did not interfere with legitimate trade or the country's development.

India's minister for environment and forests, Shri T.R. Baalu, told the Basel Convention's conference in Switzerland last week that there needed to be a review of the Convention ban and the rules on who could export and dispose of wastes.

Metals recyclers said the Indian government's change of position was a major development and could signal developing nations taking a greater role in where new Basel rules went.

The economic impact of the ban had made India alter its position.

Many scrap materials are classed as hazardous waste under Basel rules and lead and zinc smelters in India have been crippled by the inability to import scrap as a secondary raw material.

India recently lifted a block on zinc ash scrap and is now giving active consideration to allowing lead scrap imports.

LEAD, ZINC SHORTAGE IN INDIA

Mines secretary Dipak Chatterjee said on Wednesday the growing use of lead and zinc in railway electrification as well as in the road transport and agriculture sectors had created a shortage in the country.

The government's decision to allow imports of zinc ash would put the secondary zinc industry once again on a sound footing.

David Bensusan, a UK-based scrap trader and representative of the Eurometrec trade association, said: "This is a major step forward because they are saying what they want and are not being led by anyone."

Other developing nations which are also keen to develop their economies and labour under the Basel rules are Brazil and the Philippines, whose lead industries cannot get used lead acid batteries.

But Portas said for the time being no countries would be allowed to change their status under the Convention.

The hazardous waste export ban between OECD and non-OECD countries is only partially in place as just 15 of the required 62 countries have signed up to it yet.

Portas was confident that by the next Basel Convention meeting in Geneva in May 2002 there would be sufficient signatories.

"The world of waste is very fast-moving and we have to keep up with it...But no one is willing to undermine the ban," he said.

The Basel Convention on the control of movements of hazardous waste was adopted in March 1989 after a series of toxic cargoes from industrialised countries provoked world outrage when they were dumped in developing nations.