The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of

Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted on 22 March 1989 by the
Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland, in response to a public
outcry following the discovery, in the 1980s, in Africa and other parts of the
developing world of deposits of toxic wastes imported from abroad.

What is the Basel Convention? A Central goal of the What are the key objectives
Basel Convention is of the Basel Convention?
A global agreement, ratified by environmentally sound to minimize the
several member countries and management (ESM), the generation of
the European Union, for aim of which is to hazardous wastes in
addressing the problems and protect human health terms of quantity and
challenges posed by hazardous and the environment by hazardousness;
waste. The Secretariat, in Geneva, minimizing hazardous to dispose of them as
Switzerland, facilitates the waste production close to the source of
implementation of the whenever possible. ESM generation as possible;
Convention and related means addressing the to reduce the
agreements. It also provides issue through an movement of
assistance and guidelines on integrated life-cycle hazardous wastes.
legal and technical issues, gathers approach, which
statistical data, and conducts involves strong controls What categories of
training on the proper from the generation of a hazardous waste are
management of hazardous waste. hazardous waste to its covered by the Convention?
The Secretariat is administered storage, transport, -toxic, poisonous, explosive,
by UNEP. treatment, reuse, corrosive,
recycling, recovery and flammable,ecotoxic,
Transboundary final disposal. infectious.
movement means any What global problem was
movement of hazardous wastes Why is hazardous the Basel Convention
or other wastes from an area waste a problem? originally designed to
under the national jurisdiction of When it is dumped address?
one State to or through an area indiscriminately, spilled The uncontrolled movement
under the national jurisdiction of accidentally or and dumping of hazardous
another State or to or through managed improperly, it wastes, including incidents
an area not under the national can cause severe of illegal dumping in
jurisdiction of any State, health problems, even developing nations by
provided at least two States are death, and poison companies from developed
involved in the movement; water and land for countries.
decades.
Political and/or economic POPS-Persistent organic cleaner production
integration organization means an pollutants are a class of
chemicals and pesticides that
methods which eliminate
organization constituted by sovereign
States to which its member States persist for many years in the or reduce hazardous
have transferred competence in environment, are transported outputs can be both
respect of matters governed by this great distances from their point economically and
Convention and which has been duly of release, bio-accumulate environmentally efficient.
authorized, in accordance with its (thus threatening humans and
internal procedures, to sign, ratify, animals at the top of the food
accept, approve, formally confirm or chain), and cause a range of
accede to it; health effects.