UNEP/CHW/OEWG/2/12

/

BC

UNEP/CHW/OEWG/3/14

/ Distr.: General
6 February 2004
Original: English

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UNEP/CHW/OEWG/3/14

Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of

Transboundary Movements of

Hazardous Wastes and

Their Disposal

Third session

Geneva, 26–30 April 2004

Item 11 (a) (i) of the provisional agenda[*]

Technical guidelines: preparation of technical guidelines on the environmentally

sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or

contaminated with persistent organic pollutants

Preparation of technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants

Note by the Secretariat

I.Introduction

  1. Reference is made to Conference of the Parties decision VI/23 on the preparation of technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as wastes and decision VI/37 on the work programme of the Open-ended Working Group.
  2. The Open-ended Working Group at its first session, from 28 April to 2 May 2003, considered in detail the preparation of technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of POPs as wastes and draft technical guidelines on PCBs, PCTs and PBBs. The Working Group agreed that a small intersessional working group would be established to monitor and assist in the preparation and development of the following technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of POPs as wastes:

(a)General technical guidelines;

(b)Specific technical guidelines for each of five persistent organic pollutants or groups of persistent organic pollutants: PCBs (including PCTs and PBBs); dioxins and furans; DDT; hexachlorobenzene; and the group of six pesticides including aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene.

  1. At its second session, in October 2003, the Working Group considered September 2003 drafts of the general technical guidelines and technical guidelines on PCBs, PCTs and PBBs presented by Canada as lead country, but took no final decisions on those drafts. At the same session, the Working Group was informed that Australia had agreed to act as lead country for the preparation of technical guidelines on dioxins and furans and that Mexico had agreed to do the same with respect to draft technical guidelines on DDT. The Working Group invited Parties and others to submit comments to the Secretariat and Canada by 30 November 2003 and to serve as lead countries for the technical guidelines on HCB and the group of six pesticides aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene.

II.Implementation

  1. In January 2004, the Secretariat posted a circular inviting Parties to serve as lead countries for the two technical guidelines on HCB and the group of six pesticides including aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene.
  2. The intersessional working group continued to assist in the preparation of the draft technical guidelines developed by Canada. The full list of experts participating in the intersessional working group is available on the Basel Convention web site at the following link:
  3. On 7 November 2003, Canada circulated to the intersessional working group the following documents:

(a)Guidance on the development and structure of technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of specific waste POPs or groups of POPs;

(b)Revised table of contents for the general technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with POPs;

(c)Revised table of contents for the technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with PCBs, PCTs and PBBs;

(d)Proposed timetable for the further development of the guidelines on the environmentally sound management of POPs as wastes.

  1. Canada submitted the revised draft of the general technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants on 18 January 2004 for review and comment by the intersessional working group. Revised drafts were then put on the Basel Convention web site for the attention of all Parties and others before 31 January 2004. The second draft of the technical guidelines was made available by Canada on 24 February 2004 and is presented to the Working Group for consideration at its third session as documents UNEP/CHW/OEWG/3/INF/7 and Add.1.
  2. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an International Legally Binding Instrument for Implementing International Action on Certain Persistent Organic Pollutants, in its decision INC-7/6, adopted at its seventh session (14–18 July 2003), urged the Open-ended Working Group and the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to complete their work on the guidelines before the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
  3. The Secretariat has initiated the process of engaging a consultant to begin the preparation of the specific technical guidelines on HCB, aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene. The draft technical guidelines on DDT and dioxins and furans will be presented to the Open-ended Working Group when they are submitted by Mexico and Australia, respectively.

III.Proposed action

  1. The Open-ended Working Group may wish to:

(a)Adopt the following documents on an interim basis based on comments made during this session:

(i)General technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with POPS;

(ii)Technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with PCBs, PCTs and PBBs;

(b)Request the Secretariat, in consultation with Parties and others, and in particular with the members of the small intersessional working group, to initiate the preparation of the remaining technical guidelines for which no country has taken the lead, namely, those on (i) hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and (ii) aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene, with a view to presenting preliminary drafts to the Conference of the Parties at its seventh meeting;

(c)Encourage Australia and Mexico to prepare first drafts of the technical guidelines on dioxins and furans and DDT, respectively, in time for consideration by the Conference of the Parties at its seventh meeting.

  1. The Open-ended Working Group may also wish to submit a decision along the following lines to the Conference of the Parties at its seventh meeting:

The Conference of the Parties,

Noting with appreciation that Australia, Canada and Mexico are serving as lead countries for the development of general and specific technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of persistent organic pollutants as wastes,

Also noting with appreciation the contributions made by the members of the intersessional working group toward the development of technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of POPs as wastes,

Mindful of the importance of completing the technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of POPs as wastes before the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants,

Encouraging Parties and others to participate actively in the preparation of the above technical guidelines to expedite their completion,

1.Adopts the following guidelines as revised by the Open-ended Working Group:

(a)General technicalguidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (UNEP/CHW.7/…);

(b)Technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) (UNEP/CHW.7/…,);

2.Requests the Secretariat to disseminate the two sets of technical guidelines referred to in the previous paragraph to Parties, signatories, intergovernmental organizations, environmental non-governmental organizations, industry and others, in all official languages of the United Nations, for immediate use;

3.Requests the Open-ended Working Group to do its utmost to develop the remaining technical guidelines covering dioxins, furans, DDT, HCB and the group of six pesticides including aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene in time for the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention;

4.Further requests the Open-ended Working Group to officially transmit to the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention at its first meeting, through the Secretariat, the general technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (UNEP/CHW.7/…) and the technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated terphenyls (PCTs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) (UNEP/CHW.7/…) adopted by the Conference of the Parties, along with those technical guidelines adopted by the Open-ended Working Group in 2005 on an interim basis;

5.Decides to re-establish the small inter-sessional working group established in its decision OEWG-I/4 to assist Parties and others to fulfil the task of developing and completing the remaining technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants.

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[*]UNEP/CHW/OEWG/3/1.