The Hazardous Chimicals and Wastes Conventions:
A Quick Overview of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

	Hari Srinivas

What are MEAs? Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) are agreements between countries setting out non legally-binding principles which they are obligated to consider when taking actions to address a particular environmental issue, or "hard-laws” which specify national legally-binding actions to be undertaken toward an environmental objective. There are more than 250 MEAs addressing a variety of global and regional environmental issues. The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (explained below) are collectively called the "BRS MEAs" and its interlinkages are outlined in an official website that is maintained by the three conventions.

T

he three conventions of Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm together provide an international framework (or "MEA") governing the environmentally sound management of hazardous chemicals and wastes throughout their lifecycles.

The Basel Convention was created to protect people and the environment from the negative effects of the inappropriate management of hazardous waste.

The Rotterdam Convention provides countries with a first line of defence against hazardous chemicals, and guidence on importation of hazardous chemicals and pesticides listed in the Convention.

The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from highly dangerous, long-lasting chemicals by restricting and ultimately eliminating their production, use, trade, release and storage.

Besides their individual mandates outlined below, the "BRS" conventions have also set up mechanisms to explore synergies and enhance cooperation and coordination among them. This so-called "synergies process" aims to -

• strengthen the implementation of the three conventions at the national, regional and global levels by providing coherent policy guidance,
• enhance efficiency in the provision of support to Parties to the conventions, reducing their administrative burden and maximizing the effective and efficient use of resources at all levels,
• maintain the legal autonomy of the three MEAs
  

Click on the bottons below to explore the three conventions - Basel Rotterdam Stockholm The Basel Convention Official name: The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal Adopted: 1989 Focus: The Convention was developed in response to concerns about toxic waste from industrialized countries being dumped in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. During its first decade, the Convention’s principal focus was the elaboration of controls on the “transboundary” movement of hazardous wastes, that is the movement of such wastes across international frontiers, and the development of criteria for environmentally sound management of the wastes. More recently the work of the Convention has emphasized full implementation of treaty commitments and minimization of hazardous waste generation. Status: The Basel convention came into force in 1992, and currently has 53 countries as signatories. Website: http://www.basel.int/ The Rotterdam Convention Official Name: The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade Adopted: 1998 Focus: Dramatic growth in chemicals production and trade during the past three decades had highlighted the potential risks posed by hazardous chemicals and pesticides. Countries lacking adequate nfrastructure to monitor the import and use of such substances were particularly vulnerable. The Convention provides for a mandatory Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure. Status: The Rotterdam convention came into force in 2004, and currently has 72 countries as signatories. Website: http://www.pic.int/ The Stockholm Convention Official name: The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Adopted: 2001 Focus: The Convention was developed in response to the urgent need for global action to protect human health and the environment from “POPs”. These are chemicals that are highly toxic, persistent, bioaccumulate and move long distance in the environment. The Convention seeks the elimination or restriction of production and use of all intentionally produced POPs (i.e. industrial chemicals and pesticides). It also seeks the continuing minimization and, where feasible, ultimate elimination of the releases unintentionally produced POPs such as dioxins and furans. Status: The Stockholm convention came into force in 2004, and currently has 154 countries as signatories. Website: http://chm.pops.int/