Considerations on COM(2023)109 - EU position on amending the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2023)109 - EU position on amending the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2023)109  |
| date | April 25, 2023 |
(2) Pursuant to Article 15(5)(b) of the Convention, the Conference of the Parties shall consider and adopt, as required, amendments to the Convention.
(3) The Conference of the Parties, during its 15th meeting in June 2022, considered a proposal for amendments of Article 6(2) of the Convention submitted by the Russian Federation. That proposal aims to establish a 30 days time limit for an importing country to respond to the notifier of a shipment of waste and to include another change presented as editorial. The Conference of the Parties decided to defer consideration of this proposal to the following meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
(4) A proposal to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II and IX to the Convention was submitted on the Union’s behalf and discussed by the Conference of the Parties, during its 15th meeting in June 2022. The proposal aims inter alia to amend and clarify the descriptions of disposal operations listed in Annex IV to the Convention and, in particular, to: include a general introduction clearly distinguishing the terms ‘non-recovery’ and ‘recovery’; include 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 Conference of the Parties decided to further consider this proposal at the following meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
(5) It is necessary to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf at the Conference of the Parties on those proposals, as, being amendments to the text and Annexes of the Convention, they have legal effects. If adopted by the Conference of the Parties, the envisaged acts would be binding on the Union and capable of decisively impact the content of Union law, namely Directive 2008/98/EC 9 , and Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 10 .
(6) With regard to the amendments of Article 6(2) of the Convention submitted by the Russian Federation, the Union should not support them since they would not help addressing the problems that the Union considers as priorities for the functioning of the Basel Convention. In addition, amendments to the body of the Convention text require a long and heavy process to enter into force and it seems disproportionate to launch such process for an amendment, which has very little to no added-value. The Union should rather continue supporting initiatives designed to improve the functioning of the procedure of “prior informed consent”, on the conditions that they have a broader scope than the proposal submitted to COP15, are in line with broad Union policies and objectives and do not require an amendment to the Convention.
(7) With regard to the proposal to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II and IX, the Union should continue to support its adoption. With a view to gather consensus on this proposal, the Union should also display flexibility, in particular with regard to the proposed measures that are unlikely to gather sufficient support for their adoption at the upcoming Conference of Parties. This includes, for example, deferring the discussion on the most contentious topics (such as preparing for reuse and catch-all operations), seeking an agreement on the remaining aspects of the proposal and supporting possible amendments by other Parties, provided that they could achieve the same objectives as those behind the Union’s proposals concerning Annex IV to the Convention.