Brief The BASEL CONVENTION on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal by: Anton SRI PROBIYANTONO The Basel Convention is a global agreement, ratified by 170 parties. Administered by UNEP, the Secretariat is in Geneva, Switzerland to facilitate the implementation and related agreements. Background Discussions were begun when industrialized countries started searching for cheaper ways to get rid of their wastes by shipping hazardous wastes to developing countries and to Eastern Europe in the late 1980s. The incident was triggered by tighter environmental regulations in the industrialized countries. To combat these practices, the Basel Convention was negotiated under the auspices of UNEP. It was adopted in 1989 and entered into force on 5 May 1992. Goal of the Convention A central goal of the Basel Convention is “environmentally sound management” (ESM) which is to protect human health and the environment by minimizing hazardous waste production whenever possible. How the Convention Operates The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the primary organ of the Convention. COP develops policies that will guide the implementation of the Convention and it can adopt amendments to the Convention. COP meets at least once every two years, and seeks to reach its decisions by consensus. One of the COPs is the 9th Meeting of COP to the Basel Convention (COP9) hosted by the Government of Indonesia that will be held on 23‐27 June in Bali International Convention Centre (BICC)/Westin Resort Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. For the first stage, the Convention regulates the transboundary movements of hazardous and other wastes applying the “Prior Informed Consent” procedure. Shipments to and from non‐Parties are illegal unless there is a special agreement. Each party is required to introduce appropriate national or domestic legislation to prevent and punish illegal traffic in hazardous and other wastes. Illegal traffic is criminal. At the following stage, the Convention obliges its Parties to ensure that hazardous and other wastes are managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner (ESM). To this end, Parties are expected to minimize the quantities that are moved across borders, to treat and dispose of wastes as close as possible to their place of generation and to prevent or minimize the generation of wastes at source. Strong controls have to be applied from the moment of generation of a hazardous waste to its storage, transport, treatment, reuse, recycling, recovery and final disposal. Wastes Regulated by the Basel Convention As reported, there are at least 8.5 million tonnes of hazardous wastes moving from country to country each year. Categories covered by the Convention are toxic, poisonous, explosive, corrosive, flammable, ecotoxic and infectious. Examples of wastes regulated by the Convention: (1) Biochemical and healthcare wastes, (2) used oils, (3) used lead acid batteries, (3) Persistent Organic Pollutant (POPs) wastes, chemicals and pesticides that persist to many years in the environment, (4) Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), compounds used in industry as heat exchange fluids, etc. (5) other chemical wastes generated by industries and other consumers. Other topical issues included in the convention are electronic and electrical waste (e‐waste), such as mobile phones and computers, ships destined for dismantling, mercury and asbestos wastes, and illegal dumping hazardous wastes.