GENEVA TALKS ON BASEL CONVENTION TO ADDRESS MOBILE PHONES, OBSOLETE SHIPS,

 

NEW GUIDELINES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT, 4 – 8 JULY

 

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 1 July (UNEP) -- The member States of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal will meet here from 4 to 8 July to start preparing for their next biannual ministerial conference, to be held in Nairobi in late 2006.

“Over the next 18 months, Governments will focus on strengthening the Convention’s effectiveness by developing its partnerships with industry and advancing its work on the legal aspects of dismantling obsolete ships”, said Convention Executive Secretary Sachiko Kuwabara.

“Other priorities include drafting new technical guidelines, progressing on the regime for liability and compensation, mobilizing more funds and empowering the Basel Convention Regional Centres to support capacity-building at the national level”, she said.

During the meeting, the treaty’s Mobile Phone Working Group will be seeking proposals for pilot projects on collection and treatment schemes for used and end-of-life mobile phones.  Two pilot projects are already being finalized and will be launched shortly, one by France Telecom/Orange in Senegal, and the other by Vodafone in Egypt.

Meanwhile, work will continue on determining the legal status of obsolete ships (which generally contain large amounts of hazardous wastes) en route to ship-breaking yards, as well as on the problem of abandoned ships.  The Basel Convention, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) each address specific aspects of this question; they are collaborating to ensure that their respective regimes are mutually supportive.

One of the Convention’s key activities is producing a series of technical guidelines for promoting the environmentally sound management of various kinds of waste streams.  Governments will continue with their preparations of guidelines on wastes containing persistent organic pollutants, such as dioxins and furans, and DDT and other pesticides.

Still other items on the Open-Ended Working Group’s agenda include facilitating the ratification and implementation of the Convention’s Protocol on Liability and Compensation, which has not yet entered into force; developing a draft decision on resource mobilization; and providing guidance on the detection, prevention and control of illegal traffic.

A side event on the Convention’s Mobile Phone Partner Initiative will be held on Tuesday, 5 July.  It will feature presentations by France Telecom and Panasonic and by representatives of projects for the recovery, refurbishment and recycling of mobile phones.

Note to journalists:  For more information, please contact Michael Williams at tell: +41-22-917-8242, +41-79-4091528 (cell), e-mail: michael.williams@unep.ch; or Nicole Dawe at tel: +41-22-917-8220, e-mail: nicole.dawe@unep.ch.  See also www.basel.int.

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