The 15th meeting of the Open-ended Working Group (OEWG 15) of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal grappled with the challenge of staying relevant to longstanding challenges such as ship recycling – while meeting growing, complex waste-related challenges, including trade in plastics, electronic waste, batteries, and used textiles.
According to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting, OEWG 15 also reflected on “how to keep the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure and its technical annexes that guide national authorities in determining when waste shipments should be controlled and subject to PIC up-to-date and fit for purpose.”
Delegates worked though a packed agenda of strategic, technical, and legal issues, as well as those related to international cooperation.
Strategic work involved a review of options for improving the PIC procedure. Technical work focused on:
- Updating technical guidelines that guide national officials about the environmentally sound management (ESM) of wastes involving persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, batteries, and pneumatic tyres;
- Updating technical guidelines necessary as a result of the e-waste and plastic waste amendments;
- Deciding on next steps for Convention work on plastic waste;
- Examining options for the Convention to address the growing problem of used textiles and textile waste;
- National reporting on waste; and
- Work on bringing PIC into the digital age (electronic approaches to notification and movement documents).
Legal work included a review of proposals for changes in Annexes I (wastes controlled) and III (hazardous characteristics), updating technical materials needed to aid adjustment to the new changes to Annex IV (disposal and recovery operations), and draft revisions to the notification and movement documents and the instructions for completing them.
With the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Hong Kong Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships having entered into force last year, debates on international cooperation focused on whether Basel should let Hong Kong take the lead on movements of ships for dismantling/recycling or whether they should work hand-in-hand. Alignment with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and its Harmonized System customs codes was also discussed, with a view to enabling customs agents to better enforce Basel Convention controls.
OEWG 15 convened from 23-26 June 2026 in Geneva, Switzerland. [ENB Coverage of OEWG 15]