Legal provisions of COM(2019)11 - EU position on certain amendments of Annexes II, VIII and IX of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

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dossier COM(2019)11 - EU position on certain amendments of Annexes II, VIII and IX of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary ...
document COM(2019)11 EN
date April 15, 2019

Contents

Article 1

1. The position to be taken on the Union's behalf at the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (the ‘Convention’) shall be to support the adoption of the amendments to Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Convention to add and revise entries concerning plastic waste, subject to the following considerations:

(a)the Union supports the amendments proposed by Norway to add a new entry for non-hazardous plastic waste (which shall be subject to the Convention's control system) in Annex II to the Convention, provided that it is clarified that that entry also covers mixtures of non-hazardous plastic waste and that that entry is clearly defined, inter alia, by a clear wording of entry B3010 in Annex IX to the Convention, with a view to facilitating the implementation and enforcement of the obligations of the Parties in connection with the addition of the new entry for non-hazardous plastic waste in Annex II to the Convention;

(b)the Union supports the amendments proposed by Norway to add a new entry for hazardous plastic waste (which shall be subject to the control system) in Annex VIII to the Convention, provided that it is clarified that that entry also covers mixtures of hazardous plastic waste;

(c)the Union supports the proposal by Norway to revise entry B3010 for non-hazardous plastic waste (which shall not be subject to the control system, unless such waste contains a material belonging to a category in Annex I to the Convention to an extent causing it to exhibit a hazardous characteristic in Annex III to the Convention) in Annex IX to the Convention, provided that that proposal is amended with a view to:

(i)clarifying the scope, so that only non-mixed plastic materials destined for recycling or preparation for reuse, preferably limited to operation R3 in Annex IV to the Convention, are included in the entry;

(ii)improving the text and simplifying the definition of entry B3010 in Annex IX to the Convention, so as to facilitate the implementation and enforcement of the obligations of the Parties in connection with the revision of that entry, in particular as that entry is linked to the proposed entry for non-hazardous plastic waste in Annex II to the Convention;

(d)the Union proposes and supports setting an appropriate later date for application of the amendments than the date foreseen in Article 18 of the Convention.

2. In case the addition of a new entry for non-hazardous plastic waste in Annex II or the revision of entry B3010 in Annex IX to the Convention, or both, are adopted at the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, the Union shall, as far as necessary, take the steps required under the OECD Decision and Article 11 of the Convention to ensure that the current controls on shipments of non-hazardous plastic waste, including certain mixtures of non-hazardous plastic waste within the Union and the EEA, remain unaffected.

Article 2

Refinement of the position referred to in Article 1 may be agreed to, in the light of developments at the fourteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, by representatives of the Union, in consultation with the Member States, during on-the-spot coordination meetings, without a further decision of the Council.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.