§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the outcome of the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to the Basel Convention on transfrontier movement of hazardous waste, held in Malaysia in February. [33111]
§ Angela EagleThe Conference was held in Kuching, Malaysia from 23–27 February. I attended the High Level segment from 26–27 February representing the Presidency of the European Union. This was a successful conference both for the UK and for the European Union.
The Conference adopted an amendment to the Convention based on a joint proposal by Chile and the European Community which added new annexes listing hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The UK has been closely associated with the development of this proposal from its inception and was particularly active, as 97W a member of the Troika, in support of the Luxembourg Presidency's negotiations with Chile to merge their proposal with the Community's. The new amendment will give legal clarity to the scope of the earlier tan' amendment (Decision III/1 ) adopted by the Third Conference of Parties. The latter will ban exports of hazardous waste from Annexe VII Parties (OECD countries, the EC and Liechtenstein) to non-Annexe VII countries. The Chile/EC amendment should therefore add considerably to the prospects for securing enough ratifications to bring the ban amendment into force. It will not require ratification, but will enter into force within six months except for any Party notifying the United Nations that it does not accept the amendment.
Proposals from Israel, Monaco and Slovenia to be added to Annexe VII were unsuccessful. Instead, the Parties decided that Annexe VII should not be amended until the ban amendment has entered into force. To date, nine Parties have ratified of the 65 required. The UK ratified on 13 October 1997. The conference also decided that an analysis should be prepared highlighting the issues related to Annexe VII.
The Conference extended the mandate of the legal group which is charged with developing a Protocol on liability and compensation for damage arising from transboundary movements of hazardous waste. The group was, however, instructed to consider the implications of the ban amendment and other relevant international conventions for the proposed Protocol.
The Conference adopted a number of other decisions including one aimed at enhancing the capability of Parties to detect and enforce against illegal traffic and others concerned with capacity building in developing countries. The UK has recently agreed to fund two such projects forming part of an Action programme for the Caribbean.