Hazardous waste
Under the Basel Convention exporting nations and polluting industries have to take care of their own toxic waste. This promotes a shift to clean production. The Convention places the onus on the exporting countries rather than on the importers. The exporting countries should force the hazardous waste producing industries to stop using hazardous materials. In that way they won’t have to handle their toxic waste in a later stage.

Notification
Important is the system of notification of the hazardous waste. This regulates the responsibilities of a ‘notifier’ and the ‘competent authorities’. The notifier is the producer and/or holder of the waste. The competent authorities are the exporting and/or importing countries. At least the notifier and the authorities have to inform one another by notification.

Export and import
In certain cases ‘a permit’ to export or import is needed. This can be refused by the importing as well as the exporting country. Export of hazardous waste to ‘parties’ that prohibit its import is not allowed under the Basel Convention. And an exporting country can reject the transboundary movement of waste. It can do so if the conditions in the importing country don’t constitute an ‘environmentally sound management’ as required by the Basel Convention.

Basel Ban
After intensive lobbying by Greenpeace and the Basel Action Network (BAN), the Basel Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention was added to the treaty in 1995. This prohibits the export of hazardous waste from developed (OECD) countries to developing (non-OECD) countries. The Basel Ban applies to export for any reason, including recycling.

European Union
The Amendment to adopt the Basel Ban as part of the Basel Convention has not got enough ratifications yet. So formally it is not in strict legal force for all Basel Parties. But the Parties signed the Amendment and consider it morally binding. The European Union fully implemented the Basel Ban in its Waste Shipment Regulation (EWSR). That makes it legally binding in all EU member states.