Council Resolution 03-08

Distribution: General

C/C.01/03-00/RES/08/Final

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

 

Washington D.C., 25 June 2003

Promoting the Environmentally Sound Management and Tracking of Hazardous Wastes Destined for Final Disposal and Hazardous Recyclable Materials and Wastes Destined for Recovery/Recycling Operations

THE COUNCIL:

RECOGNIZING that the improper or unsafe management and movement of hazardous wastes destined for final disposal and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes destined for recovery/recycling operations can lead to significant threats to human health and the environment;

AWARE of the significant international and North American trade in such hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes;

FURTHER RECOGNIZING the important work being undertaken by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal in developing principles for environmentally sound management;

NOTING the ongoing efforts of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation's (CEC) Hazardous Waste Task Force to identify ways to improve the management and tracking of hazardous wastes destined for final disposal and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes destined for recovery/recycling operations in North America; and

FURTHER NOTING that we expect to receive input on ESM environmentally sound management and transboundary tracking efforts from government agencies, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations and academia;

HEREBY:

DECIDES to continue to develop compatible approaches among the parties to the ESM of hazardous wastes destined for final disposal and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes destined for recovery/recycling operations, in order to improve the transboundary tracking of such wastes and recyclable materials and wastes within North America;

FURTHER DECIDES to focus on, as a starting point, specific hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes that are of mutual concern to all three Parties;

DIRECTS the Secretariat to work with the Parties to:

  1. Identify priority hazardous waste streams of mutual concern within North America, on which the Parties can work to strengthen ESM practices regarding their transboundary movement and disposal, and consider the relevant legislative differences among the Parties when developing ESM practices;
  2. Identify priority hazardous recyclable materials and wastes of mutual concern within North America, on which the Parties can work to strengthen ESM practices regarding their transboundary movement and recovery/recycling, and consider the relevant legislative differences among the Parties when developing ESM practices;
  3. Continue to examine the technologies and systems currently being considered for hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes tracking in North America, with a view toward identifying obstacles to the interoperability of these systems, developing activities for the exchange of information, and implementing automated systems for tracking transboundary movements in North America; 
  4. Identify specific capacity building needs in Mexico for both ESM and tracking of hazardous wastes destined for final disposal and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes destined for recovery/recycling operations; 
  5. Hold a public workshop with the CEC Joint Public Advisory Committee on the management and tracking of such hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes in North America in order to provide an opportunity for participation by the regulated community of the three countries and input from other interested stakeholders; and
  6. Identify and evaluate additional collaborative opportunities to improve and enhance the ESM and tracking of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes destined for final disposal and hazardous recyclable materials and wastes destined for recovery/recycling operations in North America.

 

APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL:

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David Anderson

Government of Canada

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Victor Lichtinger

Government of the United Mexican States

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Christine Todd Whitman

Government of the United States of America

Promoting the Environmentally Sound Management and Tracking of Hazardous Wastes Destined for Final Disposal and Hazardous Recyclable Materials and Wastes Destined for Recovery/Recycling Operations