On June 8, 2023, the Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH)(Thailand), the Basel Action Network (BAN) (United States), and the Arnica Association (Czech Republic) jointly announced a statement to developed countries to pay respect the Basel Ban Amendment and immediately halt the export of hazardous waste to Non-Annex VII countries, including Thailand after the Basel Ban Amendment on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, with which Thailand has ratified on March 2023, has officially entered into force on June 7, 2023.
The amendment stipulates that countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Union (EU), and Liechtenstein are prohibited to export hazardous wastes under to the countries ratified the Ban Amendment, and therefore from today and onwards, Thailand is absolutely prohibited to import hazardous wastes from the above countries, which mostly are developed countries under the Basel Convention.
Punyathorn Jeungsmarn, a representative of the EARTH, commented that this is an important step in solving problems of imported waste, and the next step would be legal development by the Thai government to prohibit import of hazardous waste at the national level. The law shall cover both hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention and wastes requiring special consideration according to Annex II, which includes several important types of plastic and electronic waste under stricter waste import regulations.
The Basel Convention is an international agreement addressing the problem of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes that was drafted and opened for signing in 1989, and Thailand has ratified its membership in the Basel Convention since 1997.
Initially, there was no regulation to prohibit exports or imports of any waste. Then developing countries, who have been affected by waste exports developed country, jointly called for the amendment of the Convention. There is a requirement that developed country including OECD countries, the EU and Liechtenstein would be prohibited to export waste to developing countries, who have ratified the amendment, in order to protect those countries from increasing hazardous waste burdens. The amendment strictly prohibit export or move of hazardous wastes across the borders of countries who ratified the amendment.
Thailand became the 103rd country to ratify the Ban Amendment on March 2023, and therefore the requirements of the amendment must begin effective on June 7, 2023 & onwards.
Reference:
Reported by The Active, ThaiPBS on June 8, 2023
Reposted from Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), June 7, 2023 <https://www.facebook.com/EarthEcoAlert/posts/632602208899370?ref=embed_post >