space Press Releases, News Stories

Toxic Waste Treaty Declares Next Decade: No Time for Waste

PRESS RELEASE

Basel, Switzerland. 10 December 1999. On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Basel Convention, dealing with hazardous waste generation and trafficking, member states realized that hazardous waste generation continues to grow at the global level. They have asserted a vision of "emphasis on the minimization of hazardous waste generation," in their declaration of intended action for the next decade.

"The Basel Convention has taken the important decision to begin efforts to tackle the root of the hazardous waste crisis -- the continued and unnecessary use of hazardous chemicals in our products and processes," said Dr. Kevin Stairs, political advisor for Greenpeace International. Once toxic chemicals are allowed into our products, manufacturing and recycling processes, they will later haunt us as pollution and toxic waste."

The 5th Conference of the Parties (COP5) to the Basel Convention also registered significant progress in the ratification and entry into force of law of the Basel Convention Ban Amendment which prohibits the export of hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries. This Basel Ban is also seen as a major instrument to induce rich, high-waste countries to responsibly act to reduce waste production at home rather than freely export it to poorer economies for dumping or dirty recycling.

The Basel Ban was passed as a decision of the Basel Convention in 1994 and turned into an amendment to the treaty in 1995 and is the most important achievement of the first 10 years of the Basel Convention. Already the Basel Ban has 17 ratifications of the 62 needed to enter into force. Countries that indicated that they are currently in the process of adding their names to the list of 17 this week in Basel include China, Algeria, Egypt, El Salvador, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Argentina, Pakistan, Venezuela, Czech Republic, Benin, Bangladesh, Syria, Chile, Congo, Namibia, Burundi, and Oman.

"We are thrilled that the landmark Basel Ban Amendment is well on its way to entry into force," said Ravi Agarwal of the Basel Action Network (BAN).

"The Basel Ban has already had a major impact in closing the sad chapter of waste colonialism we saw in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and will likely become international law early in the next decade."

The COP5 meeting also adopted a liability protocol that the environmentalists called a "great disappointment." The protocol fails to hold generators always liable for the wastes they produce, and fails to cover damage that might occur after disposal of the hazardous wastes. The already weak protocol was made significantly worse in recent months by the rich, highly-industrialized countries' insistence on including a clause that allows them to opt-out of the protocol. Additionally they, refused to commit to a compulsory fund to assist developing countries in the event of a waste emergency.

"The liability protocol is the sad result of 10 years of effort by the industrial lobby to reduce the original intention to a text with as many holes and exclusions as Swiss cheese," said Dr. Kevin Stairs of Greenpeace. "The protocol is a dangerous precedent and is unlikely to ever ever provide adequate relief for victims of toxic waste or serve as an incentive to avoid hazardous waste trafficking."

For More Information Contact:

Basel Action Network (BAN): Ravi Agarwal, Jim Puckett, Carmen Gonzalez, Roger Kluck

Greenpeace International: Dr. Kevin Stairs, Marijane Lisboa, Andreas Bernstorff, Wahid Labidi

All the above contacts can be reached at the Hotel Eurocentury 2000 in Basel, Switzerland (41) 61 3067676, or at the Congress Centrum in Basel. Cell phone: 31-6-21296894

 

More News