The Basel Convention’s Open-Ended Working Group has concluded its latest session after focusing on financing, synergies, and ship dismantling.

The Fifth Session of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (OEWG-5) took place in Geneva, Switzerland from 3-7 April 2006 and was attended by several hundred participants. The purpose of OEWG5 was to follow up on decisions from the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) and prepare for COP8, which will take place from 27 November to 1 December 2006, in Nairobi, Kenya. A wide range of issues were addressed, with three topics occupying most of the delegates’ time: financing and synergies among the chemicals-related Conventions, technical guidelines on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and ship dismantling. Other issues considered at OEWG5 included the Mobile Phone Partnership Programme, the strategic plan for implementation of the Basel Convention, illegal traffic, and the Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation. In total, the group adopted 14 decisions, several of which also contained draft decisions for consideration by COP8. OEWG5 also approved a dozen additional draft decisions that will be forwarded to COP8.
Links to further information
IISD RS coverage
Basel Convention Secretariat note release