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AGENDA 21, CHAPTER 20



ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS WASTES INCLUDING PREVENTION 
OF ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN HAZARDOUS WASTES






NOTE:	This is a final, advanced version of a chapter of Agenda 21, as 
adopted by the Plenary in Rio de Janeiro, on June 14, 1992.  
This document will be further edited, translated into the 
official languages, and published by the United Nations for the 
General Assembly this autumn.





........../2



INTRODUCTION

20.1.  Effective control of the generation, storage, treatment, recycling 
and reuse, transport, recovery and disposal of hazardous wastes is of 
paramount importance for proper health, environmental protection and 
natural resource management, and sustainable development. This will require 
the active cooperation and participation of the international community, 
Governments and industry. Industry, as referred to in this paper, shall 
include large industrial enterprises, including transnational corporations 
and domestic industry.

20.2.  Prevention of the generation of hazardous wastes and the 
rehabilitation of contaminated sites are the key elements, and both require 
knowledge, experienced people, facilities, financial resources and 
technical and scientific capacities.

20.3.  The activities outlined in the present chapter are very closely 
related to, and have implications for, many of the programme areas 
described in other chapters, so that an overall integrated approach to 
hazardous waste management is necessary.

20.4.  There is international concern that part of the international 
movement of hazardous wastes is being carried out in contravention of 
existing national legislation and international instruments to the 
detriment of the environment and public health of all countries, 
particularly developing countries.

20.5.  In section I of resolution 44/226 of 22 December 1989, the General 
Assembly requested each regional commission, within existing resources, to 
contribute to the prevention of the illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous 
products and wastes by monitoring and making regional assessments of that 
illegal traffic and its environmental and health implications.  The 
Assembly also requested the regional commissions to interact among 
themselves and cooperate with the United Nations Environment Programme 
(UNEP), with a view to maintaining efficient and coordinated monitoring and 
assessment of the illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products and 
wastes.

Overall objective

20.6.  Within the framework of integrated life-cycle management, the 
overall objective is to prevent to the extent possible, and minimize, the 
generation of hazardous wastes, as well as to manage those wastes in such a 
way that they do not cause harm to health and the environment.


Overall targets

20.7.  The overall targets are:

	(a)	Preventing or minimizing the generation of hazardous wastes as 
part of an overall integrated cleaner production approach; eliminating or 
reducing to a minimum transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, 
consistent with the environmentally sound and efficient management of those 
wastes; and ensuring that environmentally sound hazardous waste management 
options are pursued to the maximum extent possible within the country of 
origin (the self-sufficiency principle).  The transboundary movements that 
take place should be on environmental and economic grounds and based upon 
agreements between the States concerned;

	(b)	Ratification of the Basel Convention on the Control of 
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and the 
expeditious elaboration of related protocols, such as the protocol on 
liability and compensation, mechanisms and guidelines to facilitate the 
implementation of the Basel Convention;

	(c)	Ratification and full implementation by the countries concerned 
of the Bamako Convention on the Ban on the Import into Africa and the 
Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes within Africa and the 
expeditious elaboration of a protocol on liability and compensation;

	(d)	Elimination of the export of hazardous wastes to countries 
that, individually or through international agreements, prohibits the 
import of such wastes, such as, the contracting parties to the Bamako 
Convention, the fourth Lom Convention or other relevant conventions, where 
such prohibition is provided for.

20.8.  The following programme areas are included in this chapter:

	(a)	Promoting the prevention and minimization of hazardous waste;

	(b)	Promoting and strengthening institutional capacities in 
hazardous waste management;

	(c)	Promoting and strengthening international cooperation in the 
management of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes;

	(d)	Preventing illegal international traffic in hazardous wastes.


PROGRAMME AREAS

                A.  Promoting the prevention and minimization of
                    hazardous waste

Basis for action

20.9.  Human health and environmental quality are undergoing continuous 
degradation by the increasing amount of hazardous wastes being produced.  
There are increasing direct and indirect costs to society and to individual 
citizens in connection with the generation, handling and disposal of such 
wastes.  It is therefore crucial to enhance knowledge and information on 
the economics of prevention and management of hazardous wastes, including 
the impact in relation to the employment and environmental benefits, in 
order to ensure that the necessary capital investment is made available in 
development programmes through economic incentives.  One of the first 
priorities in hazardous waste management is minimization, as part of a 
broader approach to changing industrial processes and consumer patterns 
through pollution prevention and cleaner production strategies.

20.10.  Among the most important factors in these strategies is the 
recovery of hazardous wastes and their tranformation into useful material.  
Technology application, modification and development of new low-waste 
technologies are therefore currently a central focus of hazardous waste 
minimization. 

Objectives

20.11.  The objectives of this programme area are:

	(a)	To reduce the generation of hazardous wastes, to the extent 
feasible, as part of an integrated cleaner production approach;

	(b)	To optimize the use of materials by utilizing, where 
practicable and environmentally sound, the residues from production 
processes;

	(c)	To enhance knowledge and information on the economics of 
prevention and management of hazardous wastes.

20.12.  To achieve those objectives, and thereby reduce the impact and cost 
of industrial development, countries that can afford to adopt the requisite 
technologies without detriment to their development should establish 
policies that include:

	(a)	Integration of cleaner production approaches and hazardous 
waste minimization in all planning, and the adoption of specific goals;

	(b)	Promotion of the use of regulatory and market mechanisms;

	(c)	Establishment of an intermediate goal for the stabilization of 
the quantity of hazardous waste generated;

	(d)	Establishment of long-term programmes and policies including 
targets where appropriate for reducing the amount of hazardous waste 
produced per unit of manufacture;

	(e)	Achievement of a qualitative improvement of waste streams, 
mainly through activities aimed at reducing their hazardous 
characteristics;

	(f)	Facilitation of the establishment of cost-effective policies 
and approaches to hazardous waste prevention and management, taking into 
consideration the state of development of each country.


Activities

(a)	Management-related activites

20.13.  The following activities should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments should establish or modify standards or purchasing 
specifications to avoid discrimination against recycled materials, provided 
that those materials are environmentally sound;

	(b)	Governments, according to their possibilities and with the help 
of multilateral cooperation, should provide economic or regulatory 
incentives, where appropriate, to stimulate industrial innovation towards 
cleaner production methods, to encourage industry to invest in preventive 
and/or recycling technologies so as to ensure environmentally sound 
management of all hazardous wastes, including recyclable wastes, and to 
encourage waste minimization investments;

	(c)	Governments should intensify research and development 
activities on cost-effective alternatives for processes and substances that 
currently result in the generation of hazardous wastes that pose particular 
problems for environmentally sound disposal or treatment, the possibility 
of ultimate phase-out of those substances that present an unreasonable or 
otherwise unmanageable risk and are toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative 
to be considered as soon as practicable.  Emphasis should be given to 
alternatives that could be economically accessible to developing countries;

	(d)	Governments, according to their capacities and available 
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations and industries, as appropriate, should support the 
establishment of domestic facilities to handle hazardous wastes of domestic 
origin;

	(e)	Governments of developed countries should promote the transfer 
of environmentally sound technologies and know-how on clean technologies 
and low-waste production to developing countries in conformity with chapter 
34, which will bring about changes to sustain innovation. Governments 
should cooperate with industry to develop guidelines and codes of conduct, 
where appropriate, leading to cleaner production through sectoral trade 
industry associations.

	(f)	Governments should encourage industry to treat, recycle, reuse 
and dispose of wastes at the source of generation, or as close as possible 
thereto, whenever hazardous waste generation is unavoidable and when it is 
both economically and environmentally efficient for industry to do so;

	(g)	Governments should encourage technology assessments, for 
example through the use of technology assessment centres;

	(h)	Governments should promote cleaner production through the 
establishment of centres providing training and information on 
environmentally sound technologies;

	(i)	Industry should establish environmental management systems, 
including environmental auditing of its production or distribution sites, 
in order to identify where the installation of cleaner production methods 
is needed;

	(j)	A relevant and competent United Nations organization should 
take the lead, in cooperation with other organizations, to develop 
guidelines for estimating the costs and benefits of various approaches to 
the adoption of cleaner production and waste minimization and 
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, including 
rehabilitation of contaminated sites, taking into account, where 
appropriate, the report of the 1991 Nairobi meeting of 
government-designated experts on an international strategy and an action 
programme, including technical guidelines for the environmentally sound 
management of hazardous wastes; in particular in the context of the work of 
the Basel Convention, being developed under the UNEP secretariat;

	(k)	Governments should establish regulations that lay down the 
ultimate responsibility of industries for environmentally sound disposal of 
the hazardous wastes their activities generate.

(b)	Data and information

20.14.  The following activities should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments, assisted by international organizations, should 
establish mechanisms for assessing the value of existing information 
systems;

	(b)	Governments should establish nationwide and regional 
information collection and dissemination clearing-houses and networks that 
are easy for Government institutions and industry and other 
non-governmental organizations to access and use;

	(c)	International organizations, through the UNEP Cleaner 
Production programme and ICPIC, should extend and strengthen existing 
systems for collection of cleaner production information;

	(d)	All United Nations organs and organizations should promote the 
use and dissemination of information collected through the Cleaner 
Production network;
	(e)	OECD should, in cooperation with other organizations, undertake 
a comprehensive survey of, and disseminate information on, experiences of 
member countries in adopting economic regulatory schemes and incentive 
mechanisms for hazardous waste management and for the use of clean 
technologies that prevent such waste from being generated;

	(f)	Governments should encourage industries to be transparent in 
their operations and provide relevant information to the communities that 
might be affected by the generation, management and disposal of hazardous 
wastes.

(c)	International and regional cooperation and coordination

20.15.  International/regional cooperation should encourage the 
ratification by States of the Basel and Bamako Conventions and promote the 
implementation of those Conventions.  Regional cooperation will be 
necessary for the development of similar conventions in regions other than 
Africa, if so required.  In addition there is a need for effective 
coordination of international regional and national policies and 
instruments. Another activity proposed is cooperating in monitoring the 
effects of the management of hazardous wastes.

Means of implementation

(a)	Financing and cost evaluation

20.16.  The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual 
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be 
about $750 million from the international community on grant or 
concessional terms. These are indicative and order of magnitude estimates 
only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual costs and financial 
terms, including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter 
alia, the specific strategies and programmes Governments decide upon for 
implementation.

(b)	Scientific and technological means

20.17.  The following activities related to technology development and 
research should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments, according to their capacities and available 
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, and industries, as appropriate, should significantly 
increase financial support for cleaner technology research and development 
programmes, including the use of biotechnologies;

	(b)	States, with the cooperation of international organizations 
where appropriate, should encourage industry to promote and undertake 
research into the phase-out of the processes that pose the greatest 
environmental risk based on hazardous wastes generated;
	(c)	States should encourage industry to develop schemes to 
integrate the cleaner production approach into design of products and 
management practices;

	(d)	States should encourage industry to exercise environmentally 
responsible care through hazardous waste reduction and by ensuring the 
environmentally sound reuse, recycling and recovery of hazardous wastes, as 
well as their final disposal.

(c)	Human resource development

20.18.  The following activities should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments, international organizations and industry should 
encourage industrial training programmes, incorporating hazardous waste 
prevention and minimization techniques and launching demonstration projects 
at the local level to develop "success stories" in cleaner production;

	(b)	Industry should integrate cleaner production principles and 
case examples into training programmes and establish demonstration 
projects/networks by sector/country;

	(c)	All sectors of society should develop cleaner production 
awareness campaigns and promote dialogue and partnership with industry and 
other actors.


(d)	Capacity-building

20.19.  The following activities should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments of developing countries, in cooperation  with 
industry and with the cooperation of appropriate international 
organizations, should develop inventories of hazardous waste production, in 
order to identify their needs with respect to technology transfer and 
implementation of measures for the sound management of hazardous wastes and 
their disposal;

	(b)	Governments should include in national planning and legislation 
an integrated approach to environmental protection, driven by prevention 
and source reduction criteria, taking into account the "polluter pays" 
principle, and adopt programmes for hazardous waste reduction, including 
targets and adequate environmental control;

	(c)	Governments should work with industry on sector-by-sector 
cleaner production and hazardous waste minimization campaigns, as well as 
on the reduction of such wastes and other emissions;

	(d)	Governments should take the lead in establishing and 
strengthening, as appropriate, national procedures for environmental impact 
assessment, taking into acount the cradle-to-grave approach to the 
management of hazardous wastes, in order to identify options for minimizing 
the generation of hazardous wastes, through safer handling, storage, 
disposal and destruction;

	(e)	Governments, in collaboration with industry and appropriate 
international organizations, should develop procedures for monitoring the 
application of the cradle to grave approach, including environmental 
audits;

	(f)	Bilateral and multilateral development assistance agencies 
should substantially increase funding for cleaner technology transfer to 
developing countries, including small and medium-sized enterprises.


		B.  Promoting and strengthening institutional capacities in
		    hazardous waste management

Basis for action

20.20.  Many countries lack the national capacity to handle and manage 
hazardous wastes.  This is primarily due to inadequate infrastructure, 
deficiencies in regulatory frameworks, insufficient education and training 
programmes and lack of coordination between the different ministries and 
institutions involved in various aspects of waste management.  In addition, 
there is a lack of knowledge about environmental contamination and 
pollution and the associated health risk from the exposure of populations, 
especially women and children, and ecosystems to hazardous wastes; 
assessment of risks; and the characteristics of wastes.  Steps need to be 
taken immediately to
identify populations at high risk and to take remedial measures, where 
necessary.  One of the main priorities in ensuring environmentally sound 
management of hazardous wastes is to provide awareness, education and 
training programmes covering all levels of society. There is also a need to 
undertake research programmes to understand the nature of hazardous wastes, 
to identify their potential environmental effects and to develop 
technologies to safely handle those wastes.  Finally, there is a need to 
strengthen the capacities of institutions that are responsible for the 
management of hazardous wastes.


Objectives

20.21.  The objectives in this programme area are:

	(a)	To adopt appropriate coordinating, legislative and regulatory 
measures at the national level for the environmentally sound management of 
hazardous wastes, including the implementation of international and 
regional conventions;

	(b)	To establish public awareness and information programmes on 
hazardous waste issues and to ensure that basic education and training 
programmes are provided for industry and government workers in all 
countries;

	(c)	To establish comprehensive research programmes on hazardous 
wastes in countries;

	(d)	To strengthen service industries to enable them to handle 
hazardous wastes, and to build up international networking;

	(e)	To develop endogenous capacities in all developing countries to 
educate and train staff at all levels in environmentally sound hazardous 
waste handling and monitoring and in environmentally sound management;

	(f)	To promote human exposure assessment with respect to hazardous 
waste sites and identify the remedial measures required;

	(g)	To facilitate the assessment of impacts and risks of hazardous 
wastes on human health and the environment by establishing appropriate 
procedures, methodologies, criteria and/or effluent-related guidelines and 
standards;

	(h)	To improve knowledge regarding the effects of hazardous wastes 
on human health and the environment; 

	(i)	To make information available to Governments and to the general 
public on the effects of hazardous wastes, including infectious wastes, on 
human health and the environment.


Activities

(a)	Management-related activities

20.22.  The following activities should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments should establish and maintain inventories, 
including computerized inventories, of hazardous wastes and their 
treatment/disposal sites, as well as of contaminated sites that require 
rehabilitation, and assess exposure and risk to human health and the 
environment; they should also identify the measures required to clean up 
the disposal sites.  Industry should make the necessary information 
available;

	(b)	Governments, industry and international organizations should 
collaborate in developing guidelines and easy-to-implement methods for the 
characterization and classification of hazardous wastes;

	(c)	Governments should carry out exposure and health assessments of 
populations residing near uncontrolled hazardous waste sites and initiate 
remedial measures;

	(d)	International organizations should develop improved 
health-based criteria, taking into account national decision-making 
processes, and assist in the preparation of practical technical guidelines 
for the prevention, minimization and safe handling and disposal of 
hazardous wastes;

	(e)	Governments of developing countries should encourage 
interdisciplinary and intersectoral groups, in cooperation with 
international organizations and agencies, to implement training and 
research activities related to evaluation, prevention and control of 
hazardous waste health risks.  Such groups should serve as models to 
develop similar regional programmes;

	(f)	Governments, according to their capacities and available 
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations as appropriate, should encourage as far as possible the 
establishment of combined treatment/disposal facilities for hazardous 
wastes in small- and medium-sized industries;

	(g)	Governments should promote identification and clean-up of sites 
of hazardous wastes in collaboration with industry and international 
organizations. Technologies, expertise and financing should be available 
for this purpose, as far as possible and when appropriate with the 
application of the "polluter pays" principle;

	(h)	Governments should ascertain that their military establishments 
conform to their nationally applicable environmental norms in the treatment 
and disposal of hazardous wastes.

(b)	Data and information

20.23.  The following activities should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments, international and regional organizations and 
industry should facilitate and expand the dissemination of technical and 
scientific information dealing with the various health aspects of hazardous 
wastes, and promote its application;

	(b)	Governments should establish notification systems and 
registries of exposed populations and of adverse health effects and 
databases on risk assessments of hazardous wastes;

	(c)	Governments should endeavour to collect information on those 
who generate or dispose/recycle hazardous wastes and provide such 
information to the individuals and institutions concerned.

(c)	International and regional cooperation and coordination

20.24.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	Promote and support the integration and operation, at the 
regional and local levels as appropriate, of institutional and 
interdisciplinary groups that collaborate, according to their capabilities, 
in activities oriented towards strengthening risk assessment, risk 
management and risk reduction with respect to hazardous wastes;

	(b)	Support capacity-building and technological development and 
research in developing countries in connection with human resource 
development, with particular support to be given to consolidating networks;

	(c)	Encourage self-sufficiency in hazardous waste disposal in the 
country of origin to the extent environmentally sound and feasible.  The 
transboundary movements that take place should be on environmental and 
economic grounds and based upon agreements between all States concerned.

Means of implementation

(a)	Financing and cost evaluation

20.25.  The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual 
cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be 
about $18.5 billion on a global basis with about $3.5 billion related to 
developing countries, including about $500 million from the international 
community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and order of 
magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by Governments. Actual 
costs and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, will 
depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes Governments 
decide upon for implementation.

(b)	Scientific and technological means

20.26.  The following activities should be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments, according to their capacities and available 
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations and industry as appropriate, should increase support for 
hazardous waste research management in developing countries;

	(b)	Governments, in collaboration with international organizations, 
should conduct research on the health effects of hazardous wastes in 
developing countries, including the long-term effects on children and 
women;
	(c)	Governments should conduct research aimed at the needs of 
small- and medium-sized industries;

	(d)	Governments and international organizations in cooperation with 
industry should expand technological research on environmentally sound 
hazardous waste handling, storage, transport, treatment and disposal and on 
hazardous waste assessment, management and remediation;

	(e)	International organizations should identify relevant and 
improved technologies for handling, storage, treatment and disposal of 
hazardous wastes.

(c)	Human resource development

20.27.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations and industry as appropriate, should:

	(a)	Increase public awareness and information on hazardous waste 
issues and promote the development and dissemination of hazardous wastes 
information that the general public can understand;

	(b)	Increase participation in hazardous waste management programmes 
by the general public, particularly women, including participation at 
grass-roots levels;

	(c)	Develop training and education programmes for men and women in 
industry and Government aimed at specific real-life problems, for example, 
planning and implementing hazardous waste minimization programmes, 
conducting hazardous materials audits and establishing appropriate 
regulatory programmes;

	(d)	Promote the training of labour, industrial management and 
government regulatory staff in developing countries on technologies to 
minimize and manage hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner.

20.28.  The following activities should also be undertaken:

	(a)	Governments, according to their capacities and available 
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations, other 
organizations and non-governmental organizations, should collaborate in 
developing and disseminating educational materials concerning hazardous 
wastes and their effects on environment and human health, for use in 
schools, by women's groups and by the general public;

	(b)	Governments, according to their capacities and available 
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other 
organizations, should establish or strengthen programmes for the 
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes in accordance with, as 
appropriate, health and environmental standards, and extend surveillance 
systems for the purpose of identifying adverse effects on populations and 
the environment of exposure to hazardous wastes;

	(c)	International organizations should provide assistance to member 
States in assessing the health and environmental risks resulting from 
exposure to hazardous wastes, and in identifying their priorities for 
controlling the various categories or classes of wastes;

	(d)	Governments, according to their capacities and available 
resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, should promote centres of excellence for training in 
hazardous waste management, building on appropriate national institutions 
and encouraging international cooperation, inter alia, through 
institutional links between developed and developing countries.

(d)	Capacity-building

20.29.  Wherever they operate, transnational corporations and other 
large-scale enterprises should be encouraged to introduce policies and make 
commitments to adopt standards of operation with reference to hazardous 
waste generation and disposal that are equivalent to or no less stringent 
than standards in the country of origin, and Governments are invited to 
make efforts to establish regulations requiring environmentally sound 
management of hazardous wastes.

20.30.  International organizations should provide assistance to member 
States in assessing the health and environmental risks resulting from 
exposure to hazardous wastes and in identifying their priorities for 
controlling the various categories or classes of wastes.

20.31.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations and industries, should:

	(a)	Support national institutions in dealing with hazardous wastes 
from the regulatory monitoring and enforcement perspectives, with such 
support including enabling of those institutions to implement international 
conventions;

	(b)	Develop industry-based institutions for dealing with hazardous 
wastes and service industries for handling hazardous wastes;

	(c)	Adopt technical guidelines for the environmentally sound 
management of hazardous wastes and support the implementation of regional 
and international conventions;

	(d)	Develop and expand international networking among professionals 
working in the area of hazardous wastes and maintain an information flow 
among countries;

	(e)	Assess the feasibility of establishing and operating national, 
subregional and regional hazardous wastes treatment centres.  Such centres 
could be used for education and training, as well as for facilitation and 
promotion of the transfer of technologies for the environmentally sound 
management of hazardous wastes;

	(f)	Identify and strengthen relevant academic/research institutions 
or centres for excellence to enable them to carry out education and 
training activities in the environmentally sound management of hazardous 
wastes;

	(g)	Develop a programme for the establishment of national 
capacities and capabilities to educate and train staff at various levels in 
hazardous wastes management;

	(h)	Conduct environmental audits of existing industries to improve 
in-plant regimes for the management of hazardous wastes.


	C.  Promoting and strengthening international cooperation in
		 the management of transboundary movements of hazardous
		                      wastes

Basis for action

20.32.  In order to promote and strengthen international cooperation in the 
management, including control and monitoring, of transboundary movements of 
hazardous wastes, a precautionary approach should be applied.  There is a 
need to harmonize the procedures and criteria used in various international 
and legal instruments.  There is also a need to develop or harmonize 
existing criteria for identifying wastes dangerous to the environment and 
to build monitoring capacities.

Objectives

20.33.  The objectives of this programme area are:

	(a)	To facilitate and strengthen international cooperation in the 
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, including control and 
monitoring of transboundary movements of such wastes, including wastes for 
recovery, by using internationally adopted criteria to identify and 
classify hazardous wastes and to harmonize relevant international legal 
instruments;

	(b)	To adopt a ban on or prohibit, as appropriate, the export of 
hazardous wastes to countries that do not have the capacity to deal with 
those wastes in an environmentally sound way or that have banned the import 
of such wastes;

	(c)	To promote the development of control procedures for the 
transboundary movement of hazardous wastes destined for recovery operations 
under the Basel Convention that encourage environmentally and economically 
sound recycling options.

Activities

(a)	Management-related activities

	Strengthening and harmonizing criteria and regulations

20.34.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	Incorporate the notification procedure called for in the Basel 
Convention and relevant regional conventions, as well as in their annexes, 
into national legislation;

	(b)	Formulate, where appropriate, regional agreements such as the 
Bamako Convention regulating the transboundary movement of hazardous 
wastes;

	(c)	Help promote the compatibility and complementarity of such 
regional agreements with international conventions and protocols;

	(d)	Strengthen national and regional capacities and capabilities to 
monitor and control the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes;

	(e)	Promote the development of clear criteria and guidelines, 
within the framework of the Basel Convention and regional conventions, as 
appropriate, for environmentally and economically sound operation in 
resource recovery, recycling reclamation, direct use or alternative uses 
and for determination of acceptable recovery practices, including recovery 
levels where feasible and appropriate, with a view to preventing abuses and 
false presentation in the above operations;

	(f) 	Consider setting up, at national and regional levels, as 
appropriate, systems for monitoring and surveillance of the transboundary 
movements of hazardous wastes;

	(g)	Develop guidelines for the assessment of environmentally sound 
treatment of hazardous wastes;

	(h)	Develop guidelines for the identification of hazardous wastes 
at the national level, taking into account existing internationally - and, 
where appropriate, regionally -agreed criteria and prepare a list of hazard 
profiles for the hazardous wastes listed in national legislation;

	(i)	Develop and use appropriate methods for testing, characterizing 
and classifying hazardous wastes and adopt or adapt safety standards and 
principles for managing hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound way.

	Implementing existing agreements

20.35.  Governments are urged to ratify the Basel Convention and the Bamako 
Convention, as applicable, and to pursue the expeditious elaboration of 
related protocols, such as protocols on liability and compensation, and of 
mechanisms and guidelines to facilitate the implementation of the 
Conventions.


Means of implementation

(a)	Financing and cost evaluation

20.36.  Because this programme area covers a relatively new field of 
operation and because of the lack so far of adequate studies on costing of 
activities under this programme, no cost estimate is available at present.  
However, the costs for some of the activities related to capacity-building 
that are presented under this programme could be considered to have been 
covered under the costing of programme area B above.

20.37.  The interim secretariat for the Basel Convention should undertake 
studies in order to arrive at a reasonable cost estimate for activities to 
be undertaken initially until the year 2000.

(b)	Capacity-building

20.38.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a) 	Elaborate or adopt policies for the environmentally sound 
management of hazardous wastes, taking into account existing international 
instruments;

 	(b)	Make recommendations to the appropriate forums or establish or 
adapt norms, including the equitable implementation of the polluter pays 
principle, and regulatory measures to comply with obligations and 
principles of the Basel Convention, the Bamako Convention and other 
relevant existing or future agreements, including protocols, as 
appropriate, for setting appropriate rules and procedures in the field of 
liability and compensation for damage resulting from the transboundary 
movement and disposal of hazardous wastes;

	(c)	Implement policies for the implementation of a ban or 
prohibition, as appropriate, of exports of hazardous wastes to countries 
that do not have the capacity to deal with those wastes in an 
environmentally sound way or that have banned the import of such wastes;

	(d)	Study, in the context of the Basel Convention and relevant 
regional conventions, the feasibility of providing temporary financial 
assistance in the case of an emergency situation, in order to minimize 
damage from accidents arising from transboundary movements of hazardous 
wastes or during the disposal of those wastes.


		    D.  Preventing illegal international traffic in
		        hazardous wastes

Basis for action

20.39.  The prevention of illegal traffic in hazardous wastes will benefit 
the environment and public health in all countries, particularly developing 
countries.  It will also help to make the Basel Convention and regional 
international instruments, such as the Bamako Convention and the fourth 
Lom Convention, more effective by promoting compliance with the controls 
established in those agreements.  Article IX of the Basel Convention 
specifically addresses the issue of illegal shipments of hazardous wastes.  
Illegal traffic of hazardous wastes may cause serious threats to human 
health and the environment and impose a special and abnormal burden on the 
countries that receive such shipments.

20.40.  Effective prevention requires action through effective monitoring 
and the enforcement and imposition of appropriate penalties.

Objectives

20.41.  The objectives of this programme area are:

	(a)	To reinforce national capacities to detect and halt any illegal 
attempt to introduce hazardous wastes into the territory of any State in 
contravention of national legislation and relevant international legal 
instruments;

	(b)	To assist all countries, particularly developing countries, in 
obtaining all appropriate information concerning illegal traffic in 
hazardous wastes;

	(c)	To cooperate, within the framework of the Basel Convention, in 
assisting countries that suffer the consequences of illegal traffic.

Activities

(a)	Management-related activities

20.42.  Governments, according to their capacities and available resources 
and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant 
organizations, as appropriate, should:

	(a)	Adopt, where necessary, and implement legislation to prevent 
the illegal import and export of hazardous wastes;
	(b)	Develop appropriate national enforcement programmes to monitor 
compliance with such legislation, detect and deter violations through 
appropriate penalties and give special attention to those who are known to 
have conducted illegal traffic in hazardous wastes and to hazardous wastes 
that are particularly susceptible to illegal traffic.

(b)	Data and information

20.43.  Governments should develop as appropriate, an information network 
and alert system to assist in detecting illegal traffic in hazardous 
wastes.  Local communities and others could be involved in the operation of 
such a network and system.

20.44.  Governments should cooperate in the exchange of information on 
illegal transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and should make such 
information available to appropriate United Nations bodies such as UNEP and 
the regional commissions.

(c)	International and regional cooperation

20.45.  The regional commissions, in cooperation with and relying upon 
expert support and advice from UNEP and other relevant bodies of the United 
Nations system, taking full account of the Basel Convention, shall continue 
to monitor and assess the illegal traffic in hazardous wastes, including 
its environmental, economic and health implications, on a continuing basis, 
drawing
upon the results and experience gained in the joint UNEP/ESCAP preliminary 
assessment of illegal traffic.

20.46.  Countries and international organizations, as appropriate, should 
cooperate to strengthen the institutional and regulatory capacities, in 
particular of developing countries, in order to prevent the illegal import 
and export of hazardous wastes.
A21: ... Hazardous Wastes (Ch. 20), 
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