• BASEL BAN VICTORY AT COP4!
• Final Decision on Annex VII
• COP4 Country Performance Reviews
• Provisional Agenda
• BAN Annotated Agenda
• Greenpeace Briefs for COP-4 (links to Greenpeace International's website)
  • COP-4: the Key Issues at a Glance
  • How to Identify the Attempts to Undermine the Ban -- A Quick Guide xx
• Annex VII Amendment Proposals
  • Background on Annex VII
  • UNEP/CHW.4/8-Amendment of the Basel Convention -- Proposal of Monaco
  • UNEP/CHW.4/9-Amendment of the Basel Convention -- Proposal of Israel
• ACP-EU Joint Assembly Resolution
• EU Commission Legal Opinion on Article 11
• Hazardous Waste Definitions
  • Background on Basel Hazardous Waste Definitions
  • UNEP/CHW.4/2 -- Draft Position Paper on Hazard Characterization and Classification of Wastes within the Framework of the Basel Convention
  • UNEP/CHW.4/3 -- Consolidated Lists of Wastes and the Applicable Procedure for Their Review or Adjustment
  • UNEP/CHW.4/4 -- Wastes Placed on List C Awaiting Classification
  • Proposed Amendment: European Community
  • Proposed Amendment: Chile
• Slovenia Letter Proposing their Entry into Annex VII

BAN Representatives to COP5:
Mr. Jim Puckett, Coordinator of BAN Secretariat
Mr. Ravi Agarwal, of BAN member organization Srishti, New Delhi
Mr. Roger Kluck, legal advisor
Ms. Carmen G. Gonzalez, legal advisor

BAN Report:
BAN Report and Analysis of COP5

BAN/Greenpeace Press Release:
Toxic Waste Treaty Declares Next Decade: No Time for Waste

BAN Papers Distributed:

• When Trade is Toxic: The WTO Threat to Public and Planetary Health
• Briefing Paper 4: Celebrating Basel's 10th Year -- Ratifying the Ban Amendment - December 1999 - [Acrobat PDF Version]
• Briefing Paper 3: Annex VII Expansion? -- An Ignoble Attempt to Undo the Basel Ban - Updated December 1999 - [Acrobat PDF Version]
• Briefing Paper 2: Why the US Must Ratify the Entire Basel Convention (or not at all) - April 1999 - [Acrobat PDF Version]
• Briefing Paper 1: The Basel Ban -- A Triumph of Global Environmental Justice - Updated December 1999 - [Acrobat PDF Version]
• Environmentally Sound Management and the Basel Ban Amendment

Notable Speeches:

• Klaus Toepfer, Executive Secretary of United Nations Environment Programme
  Audio Version (Thanks to IISD)
• Dr. Mostafa K. Tolba, former Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme
  Audio Version (Thanks to IISD)

Final Texts:

• Next Decade Declaration and Decision xx
• Liability Protocol xx

For official reports and conference papers visit the Basel Secretariat Website

BAN representatives with Madame Veseley, special rapporteur on for the United Nations Commission on Human Rights pertaining to the dumping of toxic waste. Geneva, 12 December 2002. © Basel Action Network

• Focus on COPVI
• Press Release: Activists Blast USA for Resuming Export of Naval Ships to Asia
• Action Alert: Stop USA from Dumping Old Naval Vessels on Asia
• Exporting Harm: The High Tech Trashing of Asia
• Exporting Harm: Canadian Story
• BAN Briefing Papers:
• Briefing Paper #1: The Basel Ban -- A Triumph of Global Environmental Justice - May 2002
• Briefing Paper #2: Why the US Must Ratify the Entire Basel Convention (or not at all) - March 2002
• Briefing Paper #3: Annex VII Expansion? -- An Ignoble Attempt to Undo the Basel Ban - June 2001
• Briefing Paper #4: Celebrating Basel's First Decade -- Ratifying the Ban Amendment - May 2002
• Briefing Paper #5: The Next POPs Challenge: Appropriate POPs Destruction - May 2001
• Briefing Paper #6: Package Deal to Fight Pollution: Ratifying the 4 Toxics Treaties - May 2002
• Briefing Paper #7: Hazardous Waste Recycling: No Justification for Toxic Trade - March 2002
• Mercury Migration Series: Briefing Papers of the Ban Mercury Working
• Ending Mercury Use in Artisanal Gold Mining - August 2002
• Byproduct Mercury: A Forgotten Source of a Global Poison - August 2002
• The Fish that Feed Us Are Killing Us - August 20

For official reports and conference papers visit the Basel Secretariat Website

• COP7 Advance Briefing
• COP7 Advance Briefing Supplement 1
• COP7 Advance Briefing Supplement 2
• Entry Into Force of the Basel Ban Amendment - October 2004
• BAN Comments and Proposals for Resolving Basel Convention Shipbreaking Issues - 6 January 2004
• The IMO Guidlines on Ship Recycling Annotated -- A Critique - Basel Action Network/Greenpeace, 21 November 2003
• Wireless Waste: Basel Convention's Next Hazardous Waste Challenge - Basel Action Network, October 2004

Updated BAN Briefing Papers (October 2004):

• Briefing Paper #1: The Basel Ban -- A Triumph of Global Environmental Justice
• Briefing Paper #2: Why the US Must Ratify the Entire Basel Convention (or not at all)
• Briefing Paper #3: Annex VII Expansion? -- An Ignoble Attempt to Undo the Basel Ban
• Briefing Paper #4: Ratifying the Ban Amendment: In the Final Stretch
• Briefing Paper #5: The Shame of Shipping: Breaking with Principle to Break Ships
• Briefing Paper #6: Package Deal to Fight Pollution: Ratifying the 4 Toxics Treaties
• Briefing Paper #7: Hazardous Waste Recycling: No Justification for Toxic Trade
• Briefing Paper #8: Running from Basel: Post Treaty Revisionism

For official reports and conference papers visit the Basel Secretariat Website

• Basel Action Network Report and Press Statements on the Results of the Eighth Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention - 2 December 2006, Nairobi

BAN Statement at the Global E-Waste Forum - 1 December 2006, Nairobi

Basel E-waste Decision:

• Decision VIII/[ ]: Draft Decision on Environmentally Sound Management of Electronic and Electrical Waste: Submitted by the contact group on draft decisions on environmentally sound management of electronic and electrical waste - 1 December 2006, Nairobi

Nairobi Declaration on E-waste:

• Nairobi Ministerial Declaration on the Environmentally Sound Management of Electronic and Electrical Waste: Submitted by the President of the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties
  - 1 December 2006, Nairobi

BAN Papers Distributed:

• COP8 Newspaper A4 Version (Print this document on single sided paper and put in correct page order)
• COP8 Newspaper Letter Version (Print this document on single sided paper and put in correct page order)
• Urgent Considerations for Correcting Deficiencies in the Draft Convention on the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships - NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, 8 October 2006
• A Call for an Interpretation of Article 17 by the Parties for Rapid Entry into Force of the Basel Ban Amendment - Basel Action Network, April 2006
• Critique of Draft I.M.O. "International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships" - by the Basel Action Network on behalf of the Global NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, 15 March 2006

Updated BAN Briefing Papers (November 2006):

• Briefing Paper #1: The Basel Ban: A Triumph for Global Environmental Justice
• Briefing Paper #2: The US Must Ratify the Entire Basel Convention (or not at all)
• Briefing Paper #3: Annex VII Expansion? - Say 'No' to Attempts to Undo the Basel Ban
• Briefing Paper #4: The Basel Ban Amendment: Entry Into Force = Now!
• Briefing Paper #6: Package Deal: Four Treaties to Fight Pollution
• Briefing Paper #8: Running From Basel: How the Convention is Deliberately Undermined
• Briefing Paper #10: Preventing the Digital Dump: Ending "Re-use Abuse"

BAN Submissions:

• Annotations and Commentary on Japanese Paper Regarding the Draft IMO International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in the Context of Decision VII/26 - Provided to the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention Nairobi, 25 November - December 1

Notable Press Coverage:

• Exported e-waste pollutes Africa - 18 December 2006, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For official reports and conference papers visit the Basel Secretariat Website

BAN Press Releases:

United Nations Waste Treaty Postpones Long Awaited Toxic Waste Dumping Ban - 27 June 2008

Domestic Press Release:
EPA's Electronic Waste Recycling Standard Denounced for Allowing Global Toxic Dumping - 23 June 2008

International Press Release:
U.S. Government OK's Illegal Trafficking in Hazardous Electronic Waste - 23 June 2008

Updated BAN Briefing Papers (June 2008):

• Briefing Paper #1: The Basel Ban: A Triumph for Global Environmental Justice
• Briefing Paper #2: The US Must Ratify the Entire Basel Convention (or not at all)
• Briefing Paper #3: Annex VII Expansion? – Say 'No' to Attempts to Undo the Basel Ban
• Briefing Paper #4: The Basel Ban Amendment: Entry Into Force = Now!
• Briefing Paper #5: UN Failure: IMO Ship Scrap Treaty Legalizes Toxic Ship Dumping
• Briefing Paper #6: Package Deal: Four Treaties to Fight Pollution
• Briefing Paper #7: Hazardous Waste Recycling: No Justification for Toxic Trade
• Briefing Paper #8: Running From Basel: How the Convention is Deliberately Undermined
• Briefing Paper #9: The 3R Initiative: A Mask for Toxic Trade?
• Briefing Paper #10: Preventing the Digital Dump: Ending "Re-use Abuse"
• Briefing Paper #11: Building Toxic Waste Colonies: Japan’s Economic Partnership Agreement

BAN Paper Distributed:

• Basel Convention Ban Amendment – Entry into Force Country Analysis (June 2008)

BAN Speeches:

• Speech of Mr. Jim Puckett (Basel Action Network) - World Forum on Waste Management for Human Health and Livelihood - 26 June 2008
• Basel Action Network Intervention on e-Waste - 24 June 2008
• Basel Action Network Intervention Regarding Entry into Force of the BAN Amendment - 24 June 2008

Additional Papers Distributed:

• Summary of NGO Comments on the Kobe 3R Action Plan of the G8 - 26 June 2008
• The NGO Platform's Green Ship Recycling Standard – Draft 2 - 23 June 2008

Notable Press Coverage:

• Toxic waste export harder to control, despite Basel Convention - 1 July 2008
• Fail to agree on banning toxic waste exports at UN conference - 26 June 2008
• Officials: Poor nations can't manage toxic waste - 26 June 2008
• UN says poverty is fueling trade of hazardous waste exports to poor countries - 26 June 2008

For official reports and conference papers visit the Basel Secretariat Website

Ravi Agarwal of New Delhi organization Srishti representing the Basel Action Network at the April 1999 Basel Technical Working Group Meeting in Geneva.© Basel Action Network

• BAN Report on the Basel Convention 15th Technical Working Group and 2nd Consultative Sub-Group of Legal and Technical Experts - 12-16 April
• Comments on Decision IV/8: Regarding Annex VII - 12 April 1999
• Shipbreaking and the Basel Convention -- An Analysis - 12 April 1999
• Clinical Waste in Developing Countries - April 1999
• 11 Recommendations for Improving Medical Waste Waste Management - April 1999
• 11 Recomendaciones Para Mejorar el Manejo de los Residuos Patológicos - April 1999 (Spanish Version)
• 11 Recommandations Pour Améliorer La Gestion Des Déchets Bio-médicaux - April 1999 (French Version)

9th Session of the Ad Hoc Group of Legal and Technical Experts to Consider and Develop a Draft Protocol on Liability, 19-23 April 1999, Geneva

• BAN Report on the 8th Session / Liability Protocol Drafting - 19-23 April
• Comments on the Draft Liability Protocol, by West Coast Environmental Law and the Basel Action Network - 19 April 1999

4th Session of the Open-Ended Ad Hoc Committee for the Implementation of the Basel Convention

• BAN Report on the 4th Basel Implemention Committee Meeting - 21-25 June 1999

10th Session of the Open-Ended Ad Hoc Group of Legal and Technical Experts to Consider and Develop a Draft Protocol on Liability

• BAN Report / 10th Liability Protocol Drafting Meeting - 30 August - 3 September
• Saving the Basel Liability Protocol - 30 August 1999
• Position Paper on Article 23 - 1 September
• Position Paper on Opt-Out for Bilateral, Multilateral Agreements - 31 August

16th Technical Working Group and 1st Session of Legal Working Group, 3-7 April 2000, Geneva

• Basel Convention Report on Technical Working Group - 5 April 2000
• Annex to TWG Report (Workplan of TWG) - 5 April 2000
• Provisional Attendees List of Legal Working Group - 7 April 2000
• BAN Comments on the Basel Convention Draft Technical Guideline on the Environmentally Sound Management of Biomedical and Healthcare Waste (Y1; Y2; Y3) - 10 May 2000

17th Technical Working Group, 9-11 October, Geneva

• BAN Report on the 17th Technical Working Group and 2nd Legal Working Group - October, 2000
• Comments on the Draft Document on the Relationship Between the Basel Convention and the Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) - BAN, October 2000 - [HTML File]
• Hazardous Characteristic H13 - Its Meaning and Importance to the Basel Convention - 23 June 2000
• The Basel Ban: The First Step Toward Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes - February 2000

2nd Session of Legal Working Group, 12-13 October, Geneva

• BAN Comments on the Draft Guidance Elements for Bilateral, Multilateral and Regional Agreements or Arrangements - October 2000

First Continental Conference for Africa on the Environmentally Sound Management of Unwanted Stockpiles of Hazardous Wastes and their Prevention, Rabat, Morocco, 8-12 January 2001

• BAN Meeting Report
• Towards a Policy on Chemical Waste Stockpile Destruction and Transport in Africa: Ensuring Environmentally Sound Management of Existing Chemical Wastes and Stockpiles through the Stockholm, Basel and Bamako Conventions - BAN, 8-12 January 2001
• Vers une politique en matière de destruction et de transport des stocks de déchets chimiques en Afrique: Assurer une gestion écologiquement rationnelle des déchets et stocks chimiques existants, par le biais des Conventions de Stockholm, de Bâle et de Bamako - BAN, 8-12 January 2001

18th Session of the Technical Working Group, 18-20 June, Geneva3rd Session of Legal Working Group, 21-22 June, Geneva

• BAN Report on TWG18 and LWG3 of the Basel Convention - 18-22 June 2001
• BAN Comments on Report by the ERM on Part II of the Study on Implementation of Decision IV/8 - June 2001
• BAN Comments on Document B on Part II of the Study on Implementation of Decision IV/8 - June 2001
• BAN/Greenpeace, Primary Concerns for TWG18 - 19 June 2001

Richard Gutierrez, Toxics Policy Advisor attending the 4th Legal Working Group of the Basel Convention, January 2002. © Basel Action Network

• BAN Comments on Shipbreaking Guidelines - 10 January 2002
• Hazardous Characteristic H13 - Its Meaning and Importance to the Basel Convention - 23 June 2000 (This paper reincluded here as the Secretariat failed to review this paper in preparing their own document on H13)

1st Joint Meeting of the Technical Working Group and Legal Working Group, 16-17 January 2002, Geneva

• Shipbreaking and the Legal Obligations Under the Basel Convention - 10 January 2002

4th Session of the Legal Working Group, 18-19 January 2002, GenevaFirst Session of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 1), Geneva, 28 April - 2 May 2003.

First Meeting of the Committee for Implementation and Compliance. International Environment House, Geneva, 19 October 2003.

Second Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 2), Geneva, 20 - 24 October 2003

Third Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 3), Geneva, 26 - 30 April 2004

• Mobile Toxic Waste: Recent Findings on the Toxicity of End-of-Life mobile phones - 26 April 2004
• Comments on the Analysis of Issues Related to Annex VII (Phase II) - 6 February 2004
• BAN Comments and Proposals for Resolving Basel Convention Shipbreaking Issues, and the Analysis of Issues Related to Annex VII (Phase II) - 6 January 2004

Fourth Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 4), Geneva, 4 - 8 July 2005

• BAN Opening Statement on Shipbreaking - 4 July 2005
• Greenpeace/BAN Final Statement on Ships and Illegal Traffic - Greenpeace/BAN, 8 July 2005
• Obligations and Opportunities for a Mandatory Alternate or Additional Instrument to the Basel Convention for End-of-Life Ships - Greenpeace/BAN, 26 May 2005
• BAN Comments on Secretariat Paper on the Environmentally Sound Management of Ships (UNEP/CHW/OEWG/4/6) - 22 June 2005
• Legal Analysis of Letter from Mr. Raja to Ms. Hedegaard regarding the legal application of the Basel Convention to the Kong Frederik IX (aka Riky) - 3 May 2005
• Including: First Letter to Mr. Raja - Second Letter to Mr. Raja
• Briefing Paper #9: The 3R Initiative: A Mask for Toxic Trade? - April 2005
• Basel Non-Compliance Notification Report - April 2005
• Basel Action Network Report on the First Joint ILO/IMO/Basel Convention Working Group - Released June 27, 2005
• Inconsistent: The Problem with the Basel Guidelines on POPs Waste - Released April 2005, International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN)

Fifth Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 5), Geneva, 3 - 7 April 2006

• A Call for an Interpretation of Article 17 by the Parties for Rapid Entry into Force of the Basel Ban Amendment - April 2006
• Critique of Draft I.M.O. "International Convention for Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships" - March 2006
• Press Release on Draft IMO Convention Critique - March 2006
• Briefing Paper #9: The 3R Initiative: A Mask for Toxic Trade? - April 2006
• Briefing Paper #10: Preventing the Digital Dump: Ending "Re-use Abuse" - April 2006

Sixth Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 6), Geneva, 3 - 7 September 2007

Papers Distributed:

• New Briefing Paper #11: Building Toxic Waste Colonies: Japan's "JEPAs" - September 2007
• BAN Report: JPEPA as a Step in Japan's Greater Plan to Liberalize Hazardous Waste Trade in Asia - Basel Action Network, 29 August 2007
• BAN Submission: Annotations and Commentary on Japanese Paper Regarding the Draft IMO International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in the Context of Decision VII/26 - Provided to the Eighth Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention Nairobi, 25 November – December 1

BAN Briefing Papers (September 2007):

• Briefing Paper #1: The Basel Ban: A Triumph for Global Environmental Justice
• Briefing Paper #2: The US Must Ratify the Entire Basel Convention (or not at all)
• Briefing Paper #3: Annex VII Expansion? - Say 'No' to Attempts to Undo the Basel Ban
• Briefing Paper #4: The Basel Ban Amendment: Entry Into Force = Now!
• Briefing Paper #6: Package Deal: Four Treaties to Fight Pollution
• Briefing Paper #7: Hazardous Waste Recycling: No Justification for Toxic Trade
• Briefing Paper #8: Running From Basel: How the Convention is Deliberately Undermined
• Briefing Paper #9: The 3R Initiative: A Mask for Toxic Trade?
• Briefing Paper #10: Preventing the Digital Dump: Ending "Re-use Abuse"
• Briefing Paper #11: Building Toxic Waste Colonies: Japan's "JEPAs"

Seventh Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 6), Geneva, Switzerland, 10 - 14 May 2010

BAN Interventions:

• BAN's Concerns over Country Led Initiative
• BAN on the Basel Ban and Article 17.5
• BAN on the IMO Convention not being Equivalent to the Basel Convention

Papers Distributed:

• Comments on the 5th Draft Technical Guidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management of Mercury Wastes (Jan 2010, UNEP/CHW/OEWG/7/INF/10) -- Zero Mercury Working Group - 30 April 2010
• BAN Comments on Three Swiss-Indonesian Country Led Initiative (CLI) Documents - 7 May 2010
• BAN Annotated Comments on Three Swiss-Indonesian CLI Documents (Part 2) - 7 May 2010
• Side Event Presentation on BAN e-Stewards Certification - May 2010
• Determining "Equivalent Level of Control" as Established under the Basel Convention, NGO Shipbreaking Platform - January 2010

Updated BAN Briefing Papers (May 2010):

• Briefing Paper #1: The Basel Ban: A Triumph for Global Environmental Justice
• Briefing Paper #2: The US Must Ratify the Entire Basel Convention (or not at all)
• Briefing Paper #3: Annex VII Expansion? - Say 'No' to Attempts to Undo the Basel Ban
• Briefing Paper #4: The Basel Ban Amendment: Entry Into Force = Now!
• Briefing Paper #5: UN Failure: IMO Ship Scrap Treaty Legalizes Toxic Ship Dumping
• Briefing Paper #6: Package Deal: Four Treaties to Fight Pollution
• Briefing Paper #7: Hazardous Waste Recycling: No Justification for Toxic Trade
• Briefing Paper #8: Running From Basel: How the Convention is Deliberately Undermined
• Briefing Paper #9: The 3R Initiative: A Mask for Toxic Trade?
• Briefing Paper #10: Preventing the Digital Dump: Ending "Re-use Abuse"
• Briefing Paper #11: Building Toxic Waste Colonies: Japan's "JEPAs"

Last Updated: 20 May 2010