Decision 2020/1829 - Submission, on behalf of the EU, of proposals to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II and IX to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal for consideration at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, and on the EU position at that meeting as regards proposals by other Parties to that Convention to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II, VIII and IX to that Convention - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 409/28

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (the ‘Convention’) entered into force in 1992 and was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision 93/98/EEC (1).

Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) implements the Convention and Decision C(2001)107/FINAL of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Council concerning the revision of Decision C(92)39/FINAL on the control of transboundary movements of wastes destined for recovery operations (the ‘OECD Decision’) within the Union. The disposal operations listed in Annex IV to the Convention are referred to in several Union acts, such as Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3).

Pursuant to the Convention, the Conference of the Parties is to consider and adopt, as required, amendments to the Convention. Amendments to the Convention are to be adopted at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

At its fifteenth meeting, which is scheduled to take place in July 2021, the Conference of the Parties will, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 18 of the Convention, consider proposals submitted by the Union or any other Party to the Convention to amend Annexes II, IV, VIII and IX to the Convention.

A proposal to amend Annex IV to the Convention should be submitted on the Union’s behalf in order to: include a general introduction clearly distinguishing the terms ‘non-recovery’ and ‘recovery’; clarify that all disposal operations that occur or might occur in practice are covered regardless of their legal status and regardless of whether they are considered to be environmentally sound, and that operations occurring prior to submission to other operations are also covered; include captions and introductory texts explaining what is meant by ‘non-recovery operations’ (Annex IVA) and ‘recovery operations’ (Annex IVB); update and clarify the descriptions of operations in line with scientific, technical and other developments which have occurred since the Convention was adopted in 1989; and ensure, through the introduction of catch-all provisions, that all operations not specifically mentioned are covered by the Convention’s requirements.

The descriptions of ‘disposal operations’ contained in Annex IV to the Convention are general and could benefit from further clarification. The Union should therefore propose that explanations or guidance be developed by the Conference of the Parties to further clarify the content of such operations, or be supportive of such a proposal from other Parties. Such explanations or guidance should provide clarifications and examples of the operations covered, and should not be included in the text of the Convention. Such explanations or guidance should preferably be adopted before amendments to Annex IV to the...