Basel: Movements, Duties and Cooperation

In one line

Notify every State concerned, obtain written consent from the State of import and from each transit party, confirm a contract with the disposer, carry a movement document that everyone signs, insure the movement, and take the waste back within 90 days if it cannot be completed.

The procedure, movement by movement

Step 1: notification. The State of export notifies, or requires the generator or exporter to notify, in writing, through the channel of the competent authority of the State of export, the competent authority of the States concerned. The notification must contain the declarations and information in Annex V A and be written in a language acceptable to the State of import. Only one notification need be sent to each State concerned. Article 6(1).

Annex V A requires, among much else, the reason for export, the exporter, the generator and the site of generation, the disposer and the actual disposal site, the intended carrier, the country of export and its competent authority, the countries of transit and of import with theirs, the intended route and points of entry and exit, the means of transport, the general and specific description of the waste, its physical characteristics, its Annex I categories and Annex III characteristics, the type of packaging, the estimated quantity, the process by which it was generated, the Annex IV disposal method, a declaration by the generator and exporter that the information is correct, and information on the contract between exporter and disposer.

Step 2: response of the State of import. It responds to the notifier in writing, consenting with or without conditions, denying permission, or requesting additional information. A copy of the final response goes to the competent authorities of the other States concerned which are parties. Article 6(2).

Step 3: the two written confirmations. The State of export may not allow the movement to begin until it has written confirmation both that the notifier has the written consent of the State of import, and that the notifier has from that State confirmation of the existence of a contract between exporter and disposer specifying environmentally sound management. Article 6(3).

Step 4: transit. Each transit party must promptly acknowledge receipt of the notification, and may respond in writing within 60 days consenting with or without conditions, refusing, or requesting information. The movement may not begin until the written consent of the transit State has been received. The exception: a party may decide, generally or in specified conditions, not to require prior written consent and must inform the other parties under article 13; then, if the State of export receives no response within 60 days, it may allow the export to proceed through that State. Article 6(4).