Reporting on Illegal Traffic

Mandate:

Under article 9 of the Basel Convention, illegal traffic occurs if the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes is taking place under the following conditions:

  • without notification pursuant to the provisions of the Convention to all States concerned;
  • without the consent of a State concerned;
  • through consent obtained by falsification, misrepresentation or fraud;
  • when movement does not conform in a material way with the documents; or
  • when movement results in deliberate disposal of hazardous wastes or other wastes in contravention of the Convention and of general principles of international law.

The Conference of the Parties requested Parties to bring any cases or alleged cases of illegal traffic to the attention of the Secretariat and to provide the Secretariat with all necessary information to enable it to take any appropriate action.

Frequency:

Ad hoc – illegal traffic reported as cases arise.

Format:

The Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention at its fourth meeting (February 1998) adopted a form for reporting conformed cases of illegal traffic. This form can be accessed by clicking here.

Procedures and processes of the Secretariat:

The Secretariat assists Parties on request in their identification of cases of illegal traffic and circulates immediately to the Parties concerned any information it has received regarding illegal traffic.

On receiving information about a confirmed or alleged case of illegal traffic, the Secretariat reaches out to the focal points of the countries concerned (states of import, export and, as applicable, transit) to inform them that the Secretariat has received such information and to ask whether its involvement and assistance would be required.

As requested, the Secretariat offers its good offices to support cooperation between the Parties concerned to come to a successful conclusion in cases of illegal traffic in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

For further information on illegal traffic, please click here