BC UNEP/CHW.7/INF/19 Distr.: General 18 October 2004 English only Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal Seventh meeting Geneva, 25-29 October 2004 Item 6 of the provisional agenda Report on the implementation of the decisions adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting Feasibility study on the establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the West and Central Asia: proposal by the Islamic Republic of Iran Enclosed is the feasibility study on the establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the West and Central Asia submitted by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 18 October 2004. UNEP/CHW.7/1. 191004 For reasons of economy, this document is printed in a limited number. Delegates are kindly requested to bring their copies to meetings and not to request additional copies.
Transcript
BC
UNEP/CHW.7/INF/19
Distr.: General18 October 2004
English only
Conference of the Parties to the Basel Conventionon the Control of Transboundary Movements ofHazardous Wastes and Their DisposalSeventh meetingGeneva, 25-29 October 2004Item 6 of the provisional agenda
Report on the implementation of the decisions adoptedby the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting
Feasibility study on the establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the West and Central Asia: proposal by the Islamic Republic of Iran
Enclosed is the feasibility study on the establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the West and Central Asia submitted by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 18 October 2004.
UNEP/CHW.7/1.
191004
For reasons of economy, this document is printed in a limited number. Delegates are kindly requested to bring their copies to meetings and not to request additional copies.
UNEP/CHW.7/INF/19
Feasibility study on the establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the West and Central Asia (October 2004)
This study is prepared by Dr M.Bahmani , Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Environment, as part of a proposal for establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Centre in the I.R. of Iran.
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Contents Page
1. Introduction 5
1.1 Background 51.2 Scope of the study 5
2. Rationale for establishing a BCRC in the I. R. of Iran 6
3. Implementation of COP’s Decision 8
3.1 Activities at the national level 83.2 Activities at the regional level 83.3 Contacts with other BCRCs 10
4. Available data on hazardous wastes generation and 10capacities of the countries to be covered by the proposed centre
7.1 The Governing Board 277.2 Location 277.3 Staff 27
8. Financing the proposed centre 28
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APPENDIX A: COP6 Decision on the proposal of the 29I. R. of Iran for establishment of the centre
APPENDIX B: Report of the national workshop 31
APPENDIX C: Needs assessment questionnaire 33
APPENDIX D: Report of the regional meeting 36
APPENDIX E: Communications with the BCRCs in China, Russia, Egypt and Indonesia 39
APPENDIX F: Hazardous wastes generationData for the I. R. of Iran 58
APPENDIX G: Business plan for the proposed BCRC 64
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Feasibility StudyProposal by the Islamic Republic of Iran on the establishment of the Basel Convention Regional Centre for West and Central Asia in Tehran
1. Introduction
According to Article 14 of the Basel convention “the Parties agree that, according to the specific needs of different regions and sub-regions, regional or sub-regional centres for training and technology transfers regarding the management of hazardous wastes and other wastes and the minimization of their generation should be established….”
Additionally, articles 4(2) a, b, d, e, article 10(2) a, b, c, d of the Convention and decisions I/13, II/19, III19 and IV/4 of the Conference of the Parties indicate the importance attached by the Basel Convention to the establishment of regional centres.
1.1 Background
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran submitted a proposal to the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, 9-13 December 2004, Geneva, on the “establishment of the Basel Convention regional centre for West and Central Asia”. (see Appendix (A)).
By its Decision VI/7, COP welcomed the proposal and invited the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to undertake the following activities:
1) “to develop further and complete the feasibility study in consultation with the countries in the region and the Basel Convention Regional Centres located in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation with a view to defining the relationship between the proposed centre and those centres.”
2) “to undertake activities to ascertain the needs of the region and the capacity of the proposed centre to address such needs.”
The Decision, moreover, requested “ the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in consultation with the Secretariat, to submit to the Conference of Parties at its seventh meeting a final proposal for the establishment of the centre, taking into account the agreed basic elements of the framework agreement and the core function of the BCRCs.”
1.2 Scope of the study
The present paper contains a “feasibility study” on the proposal by the Islamic Republic of Iran for the “establishment of the Basel Convention Regional Centre for West and Central Asia in Tehran”. The centre is supposed to cover several countries in West and Central Asia (see figure 1). Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan as well as Bangladesh have already expressed their desire to be covered by the centre. Moreover, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Iraq and Maldives have indicated their willingness to join the activities of the proposed centre, pending further studies.
The study intends to support the need for establishing a BCRC for West and Central Asia; suggest Iran as a suitable host; enumerate specific needs of the regional countries with regards to hazardous wastes management and technology transfer; elucidate technological and academic potentials available in the region, and suggest financial schemes for self-sufficient management of the centre.
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Figure (1) Map of the region to be covered by the proposed BCRC in Tehran
2. Rationale for establishing a BCRC in the I.R. of Iran
(i) The proposal follows the rationale of Article 14 of the Basel convention which foresees the establishment of “regional or sub-regional centres for training and technology transfers regarding the management of hazardous wastes and other wastes and the minimization of their generation. This does not exclude the possibility of establishing new regional or sub-regional centres, once all needed justifications are provided and related requirements are met;
(ii) Article 14, moreover, suggest that BCRCs should be established “according to the specific needs of different regions and sub-regions”. At the moment, problems arising out of transportation of goods and petroleum products in the areas around the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea cause serious concerns. Most of the countries of West and Central Asia are among top or potential oil producers and exporters in the world. Hence, the region is considered to be important from strategic point of view and for its vital role in supplying world economy with its rich oil resources. The ecosystem of the region in a bigger perspective, now and more than ever, is exposed to the adverse effects of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and specifically possible dangers of dumping of such wastes. Production of considerable amounts of hazardous wastes due the accelerated pace of urbanization and industrialization, utilization of outdated technologies in many parts of the region, and application of low level standards in managing hazardous wastes, all contribute to aggravate the undesired situation. Pollution due to industrial activities, oil production, transportation, and untreated waste waters from the surrounding countries, pose a real threat to the environment of the Caspian Sea region. Meanwhile environmental situation in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea region is a matter of concern due to the following factors: impacts from land-based sources of pollution on the region’s coastal waters due to the rise in industrialization together with high population growth, rapid urbanization and other domestic and agricultural sources; Risk of oil pollution, due to the concentration of offshore installations, tanker terminals, petrochemical industries and the huge volume of oil transported by ships. In most cases clean-up process is beyond the capacity of single countries and involves regional cooperation. Problems due to inadequate capacities, in the field of technical expertise, legislation, flow and exchange of information and financial resources have hampered many individual or collective initiatives. It is all incumbent on countries located in such an important region, to embark upon a
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collective approach and appropriate regional mechanisms, towards enhancing environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and the minimization of their generation;
(iii) In terms of resources, failing to properly addressing such problems, would have far reaching negative consequences for the region, their rectification require considerable amount of resources. Taking preventive measures is an investment itself in terms of resources.
(iv) Capacities of the regional countries should be enhanced in a coordinated way, taking into account the specific needs and requirements of the region, which may not be covered by other BCRCs due to their own priorities and specific needs;
(v) Asia is the vastest and the most populated continent of the world, where distances impose certain restrictions on any kind of coordinated activities. Asia enjoys only two BCRCs of China and Indonesia in its east side. Several countries in west ( Arab countries ) and central Asia are covered by two BCRCs in Egypt and Russia, which cover countries from other continents too;
(vi) The Basel Convention regional centres are meant to be inclusive both in terms of their geographical scope and their coverage of specific needs. Due to vastness of the Asian continent from one hand and availability of resources from the other hand, the existing concern is that either several countries i.e. the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even some countries in southern Asia or some specific needs may be at the risk of remaining outside the scope of the existing BCRCs;
(vii) Complementarity among existing and potential Basel Convention regional or sub-regional centres is a determining factor for the cause of the treaty. BCRCs should interact and complement each other’s activities in pursuit of the objectives of the Convention. In terms of addressing specific needs of different regions, no regional or sub-regional centre denies the importance of the other one;
(viii) A country might belong to a BCRC, concerning its certain commonalities with rest of the countries covered by that centre. However the same country may share the specific needs of another group of countries with which it may or may not have common borders or side with priorities of another BCRC. As there seems to be no fixed criteria for membership already set up by the Convention or the decisions of the COP, flexibility provides the objectives of the Convention with a better service;
(ix) The Islamic Republic of Iran has common borders with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Caspian Sea in the north, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman in the south and Iraq and Turkey in the West. Iran is considered as a bridge, connecting land locked Central Asian countries to the Persian Gulf and international free waters. Such a unique position in the region, provides the regional countries with a possibility of a cost-effective access to the proposed BCRC. Moreover strong and close historical and cultural ties with regional countries, creates a positive atmosphere and a solid base for mutual understanding, which facilitates implementation of programmes of the proposed center. Such advantages have resulted in the establishment of the following regional centers in Iran: the Regional Center for UNCCD in Yazd, taking into account common climatic features in the region; the Programme Co-ordination Unit of the Caspian Environment Programme (CEP). The Unite provides co-ordination and management structure for the development and implementation of the Programme based on directions provided by the steering committee; three Thematic Centers of the CEP, namely: Integrated Transboundary Coastal Area Management and Planning; Effective Regional Assessment of Contaminant levels; and Emergency response, are located in Tehran; Regional Center for Urban Water Management (RCUWM) is situated in Tehran; the Secretariat of the Low Forest Covered Countries (LFCs) initiative, as a contribution to the UNFF process, is based in Tehran; Ramsar Convention Training and Research Regional Center (RCTRC) by the Decision of the 8th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Ramsar Convention, Valencia, November 2002. This has already led to a great accumulation of experiences and knowledge in establishing and running of such centers;
(x) Meanwhile, establishment of the BCRC in Iran, contributes to enhancing and strengthening its capacities and capabilities to control harmful effects of hazardous wastes and helps to achieve a higher level of management of such wastes, through collaborating with the countries of the region and other appropriate international organizations, the Islamic Republic of Iran, undoubtedly, will be benefited from such an arrangement.
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3. Implementing COP’s Decision
To fulfill the requirements of the Decision taken by the COP6, to deal with the technical and executive aspects related to the completion of the feasibility study and coordination with other BCRCs in the neighboring regions, a Task Force was set up by the Iranian Department of Environment (D.O.E.) and an Action Plan was drawn up in early 2003.
3.1 Activities at the National Level
As recommended by the Action Plan, the Task Force embarked upon evaluating the capacities of the I.R. of Iran to host a BCRC through organizing national workshops, training courses and exhibitions on a variety of issues related to the Basel Convention.
The first workshop at the national level was held in April 2003 at the Ministry of Mine and Industry and 160 participants from governmental institutions, universities, NGOs, national and private industries took part. One of the objectives of the workshop was to raise awareness among public as well as governmental and private decision makers concerning the Basel Convention, including its basic texts and decisions of the COP and commitments by the Government towards their implementation. ( See Appendix B )
Following the workshop, a national exhibition was organized on 13 July 2003 at the Hoveizeh Hotel in Tehran with participants from governmental institutions, universities, NGOs and private industries. The exhibition was given national coverage by the media and interviews were conducted with the organizing panel.
3.2 Activities at the Regional Level
In order to implement paragraphs 2 and 3 of the decision, the Iranian government made necessary arrangements and hosted a regional meeting on “Needs Assessment” from 13 to 14 April 2004.
Prior to the regional meeting a questionnaire, to assess the specific needs and review the resources available in the region for hazardous wastes management, was sent, along with a copy of the proposal for the establishment of the centre, to the focal points of the candidate countries. ( See Appendix C ) The feedback provided by candidate countries was reviewed during the regional meeting and is incorporated in this study.
High-level delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Regional Office of Caspian Environment Program (CEP), Regional Organization for the Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME), as well as Iranian experts from governmental, non-governmental and academic circles participated in the Meeting.
During the opening ceremony, Dr. Yousef Hojjat, Deputy Vice President and Deputy Head of the Department of Environment, Mr. Hassan Tajik, Director for International Economic Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Mr. Sarrafi, Secretary of the Iranian National Committee on Sustainable Development and several other high-level officials made statements. The speakers expressed their views on the rational behind the proposal by the Iranian Government to host a Basel Convention regional centre and invited the participants to raise their points of view, concerns and needs in this regard.
Dr. Hassan Mohammadi, Representative of ROPME, made a statement on the activities of his regional organization and raised his concerns over the continued contamination of marine environment of the ROPME area. While expressing his organization’s support for the establishment of a Basel Convention regional centre in Iran, he invited the participants to render more efforts at both national and regional levels to prevent introduction of hazardous wastes into the environment. He also briefed the participants on the “Protocol on the Control of Marine Transboundary Movements and Disposal of Hazardous Wastes and Other Wastes in ROPME Region”. He expressed the willingness of ROPME secretariat to cooperate with the proposed centre in the future.
At the end of the day, participants took the opportunity and visited Shimi-Keshavarz, a chemical factory in city of Qazvin. The visitors were briefed by the managers on the plans and how the factory treats hazardous wastes and the endeavors for their minimization.
On the second day, representatives of the governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan made statements and expressed their viewpoints and positions on the issues under
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consideration. They raised their concerns over the current level of treatment and management of hazardous wastes in the region. They warned against the existing negative deleterious impacts of hazardous wastes on the environment as well as on human life. The participants enumerated the following needs and requirements at national and regional levels with a view to improving their management:
a) Enhancement of capacity building, including administrative and legal systems in order to meet the new challenges and implement the provisions of the Basel Convention;
b) Public awareness raising and, in that framework, holding workshops and training courses for the staff of relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations and local people as well as academic and private sectors. To this end, holding the following courses were highly recommended:
i) Health care in management of hazardous wastes;
ii) Techniques for auditing of inventory of hazardous wastes;
iii) Classifications of wastes;
iv) Operation of landfills;
v) Sound management and treatment of hazardous wastes;
vi) Provisions of Basel Convention and other related MEAs.
c) Technical cooperation at both regional and international levels, expertise, skilled human resources, environmentally sound and new technologies, and financial constrains at both stages of planning and implementation. Not to mention that industries in many countries of the region are using old and often environmentally unsound methods and technologies and therefore technology transfer is needed;
d) Notification procedures for transboundary movement of hazardous wastes;
e) Management of biomedical wastes;
f) Reliable relevant data and exchange of information, knowledge and experiences;
g) Monitoring the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposals;
h) Coordination and cooperation for management of hazardous wastes among various stakeholders at national and regional levels;
i) An effective regional mechanism for management of hazardous wastes and their disposal in general, and full implementation of the Basel Convention in particular;
j) Sound management of ship dismantling and recycling;
k) Analysis of hazardous wastes;
l) Emergency response;
m) Assessment of adverse impacts of hazardous wastes on ecosystems.
Several presentations were made by Iranian experts during the Meeting on:
1) Environmentally Sound Management of Ship Dismantling,
2) Innovation in Processes for Reduction of Toxic Chemicals,
3) Hazardous Wastes Management in Iran,
4) The need for establishment of a BCRC in Iran.
With regard to the need for establishment of a centre in Iran, the following delegations made statements:
The representative of Afghanistan pointed out that his government fully supports Iran’s Proposal to host a Basel Convention regional centre. He hoped that this centre will address the needs of his country as well as of the region.
The representative of Bangladesh said that there are 12 BCRCs throughout the world, while there are just two centres in Asia located in eastern part, China and Indonesia. While supporting the establishment of the centre in
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Iran, he proposed the area of coverage of this centre, in addition to west and central Asia, to be extended to south Asia to make sure Bangladesh and some other countries in that sub-region are also covered.
The representative of Pakistan supported the proposal to establish a BCRC in Iran and emphasised the need of the region for such a centre.
The representative of Kazakhstan expressed his support for establishment of the BCRC in Iran.
The representative of Tajikistan reiterated that although his Government is not a party to the Basel Convention and this issue is under consideration, he strongly supports the establishment of the BCRC in Iran. He added that all countries in the region will certainly benefit from such a centre.
The representative of Uzbekistan expressed his full support for the establishment of the centre in Iran and wished this centre a success.
The representative of Iran referred to existing BCRCs in East Asia and emphasized the need for setting up another centre for the larger area of West and Central Asia. He added that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will contribute to the establishment of the centre and at this stage finalize and submit the feasibility study to COP7 for its consideration.
Learning from experiences of the past two decades and taking into consideration the impacts of several major wars in the region, the participants concluded that the establishment of a mechanism such as a Basel Convention Regional Centre in the Islamic Republic of Iran is necessary and would contribute to meeting the needs of countries in the region. They, therefore, urged COP7 to approve the proposal.
The participants requested existing regional centres to take into account special needs of the region and asked for their understanding and cooperation. They appreciated the effective role of the Basel Convention Secretariat in facilitating better implementation of the Convention, including its support and contribution towards the establishment of regional centres.
Delegations encouraged the Iranian government to further develop the feasibility study and to present it to the forthcoming meeting of the Conference of the Parties, as required by decision VI/7 of COP6, taking into account the needs expressed and recommendations made by them in Tehran Regional Meeting.
The report of the Meeting was approved unanimously by the delegations from all seven countries participating in the Meeting.
3.3 Contacts with other BCRCs
Additionally, contacts were made with the BCRCs in Egypt, Russia, Indonesia and China with regard to defining the relationship between these BCRCs and the proposed centre. Generally speaking, there seem to be fair amount of understanding and support among the aforementioned BCRCs, concerning the establishment of the proposed BCRC in Iran, as exemplified with the message from the Director of the Indonesian BCRC (see APPENDIX (E)) confirming their support for the establishment of the proposed centre in the I. R. of Iran.
4. Available data on hazardous wastes generation and capacities of the countries to be covered by the proposed centre
The type of hazardous wastes produced in countries to be covered by the BCRC in Iran are quite varied, ranging from expired pesticides in the Central Asian Republics to spent catalysts in West Asia. As indicated earlier in the paper, to obtain more accurate information about the specific needs of these countries a questionnaire was sent to them, requesting their kind cooperation in providing information about the type and amount of hazardous wastes produced, available legislation and specific needs for training and technology transfer. ( See Appendix C ) Other available sources of information were also referred to, with the accuracy of the information authenticated by the representatives of the countries attending the Regional Meeting in Tehran.
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Table (1) World Bank development indicators (2001)
CountryG
ross
dom
estic
pr
oduc
t ($
mill
ion)
Agr
icul
ture
va
lue
adde
d (%
of
GD
P)
Ind.
Val
ue a
dded
(%
of G
DP)
Man
u va
lue
adde
d (%
GD
P)
Scie
ntis
t and
en
gine
ers i
n R
&D
(per
m
illio
n pe
ople
19
87-9
7)
Emis
sion
s of
orga
nic
wat
er
pollu
tant
(K
ilogr
am p
er
day)
Airc
raft
depa
rture
s th
ousa
nds 1
999
Armenia 1,845 (1999)
29 33 23 1,485 12,858 (1998)
4
I.R. Iran 110,791 (1999)
21 31 17 560 72,334 (1990)
76
Kazakhstan 15,842 (1999)
11 32 18
Pakistan 58,154 (1999)
27 23 16 72 114,726 (1998)
65
Tajikistan 1,870 (1999)
19 25 21 666 4
Turkmenistan3,204 (1999)
27 45 34 3
Uzbekistan 17,705 (1990)
33 24 11 1,763 31
4.1 Afghanistan
After two decades of local wars leading to fleeing of a third of the population mostly to neighboring countries like Iran, Afghanistan suffers from enormous poverty, a crumbling infrastructure, and widespread land mine areas. It is estimated that 732 square kilometers of mined area exist in Afghanistan.
Natural resources of Afghanistan are petroleum, natural gas, coal, copper, chromites, lead, zinc and iron.
Major environmental problems facing the country are soil degradation and deforestation. Afghanistan struggles also with the lack of potable water and sewage treatment among its most urgent problems.
Afghanistan is a party to the UNCCD, CITES, Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and other Matter, and has signed, but not ratified CBD, UNFCCC, Basel Convention, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and Marine Life Conservation.
4.1.1 Type and amount of hazardous wastes
Main industries in operation in Afghanistan are chemical fertilizers, cement and textile. The representative of the Government of Afghanistan attending the Regional Meeting in Tehran, indicated that no data on hazardous wastes generation was available.
4.1.2 Institutions involved
The main body dealing with environmental protection in Afghanistan is the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.
4.2 Armenia
Traditionally under the Soviet rule, Armenia, with a population of about 3.3 million, had a modern industrial sector supplying machine tools, textiles, electric motors and trucks to other republics but after the collapse of the Soviet Union it has switched to small-scale agro industrial operations. With small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, alumina, the major industries with regards to hazardous waste generation are mining, metallurgical, chemical, and construction.
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Some examples of sites generating hazardous waste are the copper and molybdenum factory in Kadjaran and a gold extracting plant in Ararat.
Armenia faces acute energy crisis as it does not have fuel resources and 45% of its electricity is generated by the controversial Medzamor nuclear reactor.
Armenia has signed and ratified the Convention on world cultural and natural heritage (1973), the Convention on biological diversity (1993), the UN framework convention on climate change (1993), the Convention on long-range Tran boundary air pollution (1997), the Convention on environmental impact assessment in a Tran boundary context (1997), the Convention on the Tran boundary effects of industrial accident (1997), the Convention to combat desertification (1997), the Convention on the control of Tran boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (1999), the Convention for the protection of the ozone layer and the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (1999).
4.2.1 Type and amount of hazardous waste
The industrial emissions in Armenia contain a complex of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, nickel, etc.), fluorine and chlorine compounds (including dioxins), cyanic and nitrogen compounds and other substances that cause soil and groundwater contamination
In the years of intensive economic development of Armenia (1985-1990), the total amount of industrial and municipal waste generated was 36.7 million tonnes2.
Although the use of chlororganic pesticides were prohibited in the 1970’s, a high residual concentration has been reported especially in the Ararat valley.
4.2.2 Existing legislations
Between 1993 and 2001 Armenia ratified more than ten environmental conventions of global and regional significance. These indicate the importance attached to the environmental issues by the government of Armenia.
The most important legislative acts are listed below:
(1) Principles of Legislation on Nature Protection (1991)(2) Law on Specially Protected Areas (1991)(3) Land Code (1991)(4) Water Code (1991)(5) Underground Resources Code (1992)(6) Law on Atmospheric Air Protection (1994)(7) Forest Code (1994)(8) Law on Environmental Impact Expertise (1995)(9) Law on Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Use Payments (1998), revised in 2001(10) Governmental decision no. 97 (1995). The order of adjustment of hazardous wastes import,
export and transit over the territory of Armenia
At present, the weak enforcement of environmental legislation is most strongly related to the limits of human capacities and financial resources. The lack of knowledge, absence of on-the-job-training, little familiarity with the policies and management tools developed at the national level, as well as obsolete or nonexistent equipment best characterize the present environmental inspectorate
4.2.3 Treatment and disposal facilities
There are currently no facilities for treatment or recovery of recyclable industrial and municipal wastes. In addition, a significant part of the industrial waste is dumped into the landfills for municipal waste without any preceding treatment
There are 45 urban and 429 rural landfills for municipal solid waste in Armenia, and the total landfill areas occupy about 1500 ha. The landfills have been constructed without special planning permission or environmental 2 State of Environment in Armenia, report by the American University of Armenia
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impact assessments. Usually landfills are not covered with soil. The high concentrations of heavy metals found in landfills lead also to contamination of soil and groundwater
4.2.4 Linkage institutions
The major institutions responsible for the environmental issues are as follows:
(1) Ministry of Nature Protection(2) State Environmental Inspection(3) Environmental Monitoring Center(4) Hydro-Meteorological Department(5) State Environmental Expertise
4.3 Bangladesh
Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains an underdeveloped and overpopulated country. Although half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as their single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by the agricultural sector, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Much of the country is routinely flooded during the summer monsoon season. The industrial sector produces around 10 percent of GDP, and long-term national strategies in late 1980s did not anticipate a major increase in that percentage.
One of the country's few mineral resources is natural gas, which is the basis for nitrogenous fertilizer production sufficient to meet the country's needs. Estimated national reserves range from 182 billion to 623 billion cubic meters. Deposits lie in more than a dozen different locations, six of which were in operation in 1986. The country's gas production is concentrated in the northeastern part of the country. Reserves also have been discovered offshore, but extraction is not yet cost effective
In western Bangladesh there are substantial proven reserves of coal, but they remained unexploited in late 1980s, largely because of the absence of major prospective users in the area Many people are landless and have to live on and cultivate flood-prone lands. Water shortages are intermittent because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country. Access to potable water is limited. Water-borne diseases are prevalent. Water pollution especially in fishing areas result from the use of commercial pesticides. Soil degradation and deforestation are among major challenges facing the country. Bangladesh is a party to the CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD, CITES, Basel and Ramsar Conventions, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
4.3.1 Type and amount of hazardous wastes
Public sector corporations produce a substantial part of the country's paper and newsprint requirements. They carry out sugar-refining operations at modest-sized mills in several parts of the country as well. They also produce about 100,000 tons of steel per year, 1 million tons of petroleum products, radio and television sets, bicycles, paints and varnishes, cement, and industrial chemicals.
In 1990s, it was learned that many of wells used for potable water were contaminated by arsenic, a substance that occurs naturally in Bangladesh's alluvial soils. The World Bank estimates that 25 percent of the country's 4 million wells may be contaminated by arsenic. In 1998 the World Bank granted Bangladesh a $32.4 million of credit to identify contaminated wells and develop alternative sources of safe drinking water.
The total amount of hazardous wastes generated in 1990 was estimated to be around 9,978.59 million tons3.
4.3.2 Existing legislation
3 Information Provided by the Government of Bangladesh to the, United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, Fifth Session, 7-25 April 1997
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The following laws and regulations are in place at the national level:
- The Water Pollution Control Ordinance, 1973- The Environment Pollution Control Ordinance, 1977- The Environment Conservation Act, 1995- The Environment Conservation Rules, 1997- The Environment Court Act, 2000
4.3.3 Institutions involved
In 1977, Environment Pollution Control Board with 16 members headed by a Member of the Planning Commission and Environment Pollution Control Cell headed by a Director with staff complement of 26 were established. This was followed by the establishment of the Environment Pollution Control Project, the Department of Pollution Control and finally in 1985, the restructured and renamed Department of Environment in 1989. The Department discharges its responsibilities through a head office and six Divisional offices located in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Bogra, Barisal and Sylhet.
To take prompt legal action against environmental pollution, the government has set up Environment courts. The Environment Conservation Rules 1997 has also been passed by the Parliament. The Department of Environment is taking measures to carry out surveys on identification and control of polluting industries, river pollution and car pollution.
Most universities have Forestry Department and Department of Environment.
4.4 The Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran with a population of 67 million is one of the largest economies in the region. Iran has the second largest gas and oil reserves in the world and is the second biggest oil exporter in OPEC.
Natural resources available in Iran are petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur.
Major industries of Iran are petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other construction materials and food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production). Some of the most important industrial sites are as follows:
- Nine petroleum refineries in Abadan, Arak, Bandar Abbas, Lavan, Tabriz, Tehran, Shiraz , Kermanshah and Isfahan. These refineries have obtained the environmental license ISO 14000.
- Twelve Petrochemical complexes including in Arak, Isfahan, Khark, Farabi, Tabriz, Razi, Shiraz, Bandar Imam and Khorasan. Tabriz Petrochemical Company has recieved the Sanitation and Safety System license (O.H.S.A.S. 18000). Petrochemical complexes in Isfahan, Arak, Khorasan, Tabriz and Urumieh have also received the ISO 14000 environmental license.
- Car manufacturing companies of Iran-Khodro and SAIPA
- Steel manufacturing complex of Mobarakeh
- Aluminum manufacturing complexes of IRALCO and Almahdy
- Sarcheshmeh Copper complex
Table (2) shows the number of important industrial sectors in operation for the year 1998 in Iran.
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Table (2) Different industrial sectors in I.R.Iran
Industrial Sectors Numbers in operationFood 1543
Textiles and Leather 767Paper and Pulp 375
Chemical 1389Inorganic Non-Metallic Minerals 937
Inorganic Metallic Minerals 470Electronics 471
Heavy Industrial Machinery 518Vehicle Manufacturers and Associated Industries 170
Metal casting, Metal Forming 226Total 6866
Major environmental problems currently facing Iran are air pollution especially in urban areas, wastes originating from refinery operations, industrial effluents, deforestation, desertification, oil pollution in the Persian Gulf and inadequate supplies of potable water
Iran is a party to numerous multilateral environmental agreements such as CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD, CITES, Basel and Ramsar Conventions, Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and other Matter, the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. Iran signed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) in May 2001 and is currently chairing its Asia-Pacific Group in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on POPs. It acts also as the Vice-chair for the INC. Iran signed the Rotterdam Convention (PIC) in 1998.
4.4.1 Type and amount of hazardous wastes
Annual generation of municipal wastes in Iran is 32 million tons.4 The amount of PCB in Iran is estimated to be about one million liters in the oil industry and approximately two million liters in other sectors4. About 28.6 million tons of non-metallic minerals were extracted in 1997 and this was increased to 105 million tons in 20015.
Steel industry, with an output of 5.26 tons, produced 2.63 million tons of wastes in 1999. Mobarakeh Steel Complex produces 1,085,596 tons of solid wastes annually, of which 47,544 tons are hazardous. Khorasan Steel Complex produces approximately 500,000 tons of wastes of which 30,000 are hazardous5.
In copper industry about 12 million and in mining and processing activities 14 million tons of wastes are produced.5
Approximately 20,000 tons of wastes are produced annually in the Aluminum manufacturing industry of which 6,500 are hazardous wastes5.
On wastes generated from other non-ferrous metals 10,000 tons in lead industry, 15,886 tons in zinc industry and 826,577 tons of wastes in gold industry are produced.5
Currently about 733 hospitals produce about 450 tons of wastes daily, 71% of which are standardized in in-house wastes management facilities such as incinerators.5
There are currently about sixteen companies formulating plant protection chemicals and five companies producing different pesticides. The Ministry of Agriculture distributed about 22,000 tons of formulated pesticides in different provinces in 1998.
Tables in Appendix (E) show the latest hazardous wastes generation data (year 2004) compiled by the Department of Environment. The appendix also contains hazardous wastes data for different industrial sectors according to the United Nation’s International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC) and UNEP’s Y codes.
4 National report on sustainable development to the world summit on sustainable development, Johannesburg 20025 Technical justification for a national plan for wastes management, Department of Environment (2001)
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4.4.2 Existing legislation
Article 50 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes the significant of environmental protection as a public obligation. The Environmental Protection Act (1974) of Iran is one of the oldest in the region. Country’s national five-year socio-economic development plans, envisage the obligation to integrate environmental considerations in all major development projects, main industrial and mining activities, exploitation of natural resources, and domestic energy consumption.
The Iranian Government has recently adopted the following laws and executive procedures:
- Regulations and Guidelines for Establishment of industries; - Executive Procedure on the Determination and Declaration of the Extent of Pollution caused by
Polluting Industrial Units; - and Executive Procedure on Fines Imposed on Industrial Units of Discharge of Polluting Effluents.
4.4.3 Treatment and disposal facilities
The Supreme Council of Environment has approved a strategy for management of hazardous wastes, outlined by the Department of environment. The national strategy for management of domestic wastes calls for various measures of minimizing waste, use of required technology for the collection and recycling of wastes and transport of waste with minimizing the impacts on the environment.
Municipal wastes are mostly dumped into landfills. In Tehran the Kahrizak site is the largest dumping site. Some industries possess incinerators for in-house hazardous wastes management. There are currently six sites, located in major cities in Iran, producing compost from municipal wastes, each between 250 to 500 tons. Currently a site is under construction, in Semnan, specifically for treatment of industrial hazardous wastes through recycling, incineration, neutralization and recovery. The provincial municipalities each possess their laboratories for analysis of industrial effluents, air emissions and etc.
4.4.4 Institutions involved
The Supreme Council of Environment, chaired by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a legislative body that enacts relevant regulations, related to sustainable development. The Environment Protection Organization of Iran was established in 1956, developed into the Department of Environment in 1971. The Department of Environment (DOE), headed by the Iranian Vice-president, is in charge of defining and presenting national regulations and standards for protecting and improving the quality of the environment.
The Ministry of Industry has established an Environmental Office to facilitate dissemination of information to various industries, under its official supervision. The purpose is to promote wastes minimization concepts and provide needed incentives for aquisition of ISO 14000 certificates.
Around 194 NGO’s in Iran are involved with environmental issues.
4.5 Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is situated in Central Asia, deep in the Eurasian continent. Its territory is as large as 2,724,900 sq km. In terms of the area it is the second largest among the CIS countries.
Kazakhstan’s population is around 14,841,900. Population density is as high as 5.5 per sq km. Administratively, Kazakhstan is comprised of 14 regions (as of 5.05.97) with cities of Almaty and Leninsk enjoying a special status and 85 cities.
Steppes occupy some 26% of the territory of Kazakhstan. 167,000,000 ha account for deserts (44%) and semi-deserts (14%) with forests occupying 21,000,000 ha.
Kazakhstan is rich in commercial minerals. In terms of chromium, vanadium, bismuth and fluorine reserves, Kazakhstan knows no second in the world while in terms of resources like iron, chromite, lead, zink, tungsten, molybdenum, phosphorite, copper, potassium and cadmium, the country holds one of the leading places.
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Nearly 160 deposits of oil and gas have been explored in Kazakhstan. These oil and gas fields are estimated to contain about 20,000,000,000 barrels of oil and 700,000,000 tons of gas condensate, approximately equal to present day resources of the whole Western Europe. The Tenghiz field alone ranks as one of the largest deposits of the world.
Coal reserves in Kazakhstan are around 160,000,000,000 tons. The Republic owns 10 coal fields of bituminous and brown coal and altogether 155 deposits. Iron ore resources (containing 50-60% of pure iron) in the Republic surpass those of many countries in the world.
Kazakhstan is the second richest country in the world (after Russia) with regard to phosphorite reserves, while phosphorite deposits of Zhanatas and Karatau in terms of thickness and quality are the second largest in the world.
Kazakhstan is one of the biggest producers of aluminium in the world. The Republic harbours uncommonly superb resources of copper ore. Zhezkazgan ore deposits are second largest in the world. The territory of Kazakhstan affords infinite resources of salt and construction materials.
The already prospected deposits serve a fine basis for the development of mining, coal-mining, metallurgy, oil-and-gas and chemical industries.
Kazakhstan's share in world output of commercial minerals and products thereof (according to estimates of the Union Bank of Switzerland) in the days of the late USSR amounted to the followings: Beryllium - 24%, Zink - 7%, Tantalum - 33%, Titanium - 26%, Chromite - 27%, Copper - 3%, Barite - 7%, Molybdenum - 3%, Lead - 7%, Bauxites - 1%, Uranium -14%, Manganese - 5%, Silver - 6%, Iron ore - 2%, Tungsten - 12%, Gold - 1%.
Pollution problems are particularly severe in the vicinity of urban and industrial centres where adequate and fully operational wastewater treatment facilities do not exist either for municipal or industrial effluents. Of nearly 1,200 major industrial enterprises in the country, fewer than half, have functioning pre-treatment facilities. Municipal wastewater is commonly treated in unlined lagoons, which receive untreated or poorly treated industrial effluents as well.
Kazakhstan is a party to the CBD, UNCCD, CITES, and the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
4.5.1 Type and amount of hazardous wastes
Twenty billion tons of industrial wastes have been accumulated up to now in the territory of Kazakhstan, of which more than 6 billion tons are toxic wastes. The annual accumulation rate of such wastes is around 1 billion tons. Ninety five percent of the total amount of mined ore goes to wastes, quite often being extremely toxic and left in places inadequate for storage6.
Annually, 14 million cubic meter of municipal wastes and 500-700 million cubic meter of industrial wastes, including 80 million tons of toxic ones, are produced.
Non-ferrous metallurgy wastes’ storage areas cover 15 thousands hectare of land, in which 8 thousands hectare is covered by dumps of rocks, approximately 6 thousands hectare – by tailings of concentrating mill, and more than 500 hectare – by dumps of metallurgical works. The volumes of wastes produced from ferrous metallurgy and chemical industry are at the same level.
Large amount of industrial wastes are accumulated in Karagandy and Pavlodar oblasts. About 1.4 billion tons of industrial wastes are produced in Eastern Kazakhstan oblast. These wastes mainly include stripping rocks of coal-mining and mineral resource industries, concentration tailings and cinder wastes.
Municipal solid wastes are considered to be a serious problem for Kazakhstan. There are significant amounts of them in large populated areas. Average accumulation of such wastes per person, in large cities, is 1.3-2.2 cubic meters.
6 National Environmental Action Plan for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1999), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of The Republic of Kazakhstan.
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Approximately 8 billion cubic meters of wastewater are presently being held in lagoons in 8 major cities, causing contamination of surrounding soil as well as surface and groundwater resources through overflow and seepage7.
The problem of radioactive wastes is very serious in Kazakhstan. Lots of uranium mines exist in the country. Under the Soviet rule nuclear tests were carried out in East Kazakhstan.
Radioactive and toxic chemical sites from the Soviet Union era can still be found in the country. It is estimated that a stockpile of about 56-70,000 tons of obsolete pesticides exist in Kazakhstan7.
4.5.2 Existing legislation
The law “On Environmental Protection of Kazakhstan” was adopted in 1992. The following bills are among the most important ones:
- Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan valid as the law on Oil, 28 June 1995;- Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan valid as the law on Subsurface and
Subsurface Use, 27 January 1996;- Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Environmental Expertise; 18 March 1997;- Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Environmental Protection, 15 July 1997.
4.5.3 Treatment and disposal facilities
Estimations indicate that 800 million tons of hazardous wastes are generated in Kazakhstan every year. Nearly 17 billion tons of these wastes are presently stored in unlined landfills in the country. Systematic recycling in industries is not common.City of Almaty is considered to be the largest producer of wastes of all types. All municipal wastes of Almaty are stored in a landfill located 7 km far from the city. This site is not technically equipped or monitored.
Of nearly 1,200 major industrial enterprises in the country, fewer than half have functioning pre-treatment facilities.
4.5.4 Institutions involved
The State Committee for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was set up in 1987. In 1991 it was transformed into the State Committee of Kazakhstan for Ecology and Environmental Management, which, in turn, was reorganized in January 1992 as the Ministry of Ecology and Bioresources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which finally turned to the Ministry of Environment Protection in 2002.
The Main Board for Hydrometeorology of the Republic of Kazakhstan is an environmental pollution observation centre. It monitors air pollution, the quality of surface and seawaters and soil on the territory of the Republic.
The Institute of Monitoring analysis and forecasts the status of natural environment. The State Committee for Statistics gathers and provides information on actual emissions and discharges into the environment.
The following institutions provide educational courses related to the environment:
- Kazakh National State University, Almaty (chemistry and ecology)- Kazakh National Technological University, Almaty (ecology and monitoring)- Kzyl-Orda Teachers Training Institute (ecology and monitoring)- Kazakh Chemical Technology Institute, Shymkent (industrial ecology)
4.6 Pakistan
Pakistan is a developing and heavily populated country with a population of 144 million. It’s major natural resources are natural gas, petroleum (limited), coal, iron ore, copper, salt and limestone.
7 National Environmental Action Plan for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1999), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of The Republic of Kazakhstan
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Major industries as indicated in Table (4) are textile, food processing and construction materials. Major environmental issues facing the country are water, soil and air pollution; limited natural fresh water resources, soil erosion and desertification.
National Environment Quality Standard is being applied to wastes management. In addition, Pakistan has prohibited the import of hazardous wastes in accordance with the requirements of the Basel Convention.
Pakistan is a Party to numerous multilateral environmental agreements such as CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD, Basel and Ramsar Conventions, The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and other Matter, and the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
20 to 25 companies have acquired ISO 14000 certification, most of them being multinationals.
4.6.1 Type and amount of hazardous wastes
Pakistan is suffering from the adverse soil, air and occupational effects caused by the use of chemicals in textile and leather industries. These problems have necessitated formulation and implementation of various projects aimed at reducing pollution originating from industries.
Industries in Pakistan, in particular those situated in urban surroundings, generate daily considerable amounts of air emissions, liquid and solid wastes, not managed properly. This causes serious air, water and land pollution and affects health. This is mostly due to lack of financial and technical know how and support.
Pakistan's health care sector produces 250,000 tons of highly infectious wastes each year, in need of being disposed properly.
Import of hazardous wastes has been prohibited by the Government, however, there are growing concerns about increasing illegal import of wastes, notably Electronic wastes from industrial countries9.
Several donors have supported Pakistan on disposal of obsolete pesticides in last five years. In two disposal and one safeguarding operation undertaken so far, altogether 385 tons of obsolete pesticides and associated wastes have been collected and sent abroad for final disposal9.
In 1999/2000 the German Government, Bayer AG/Germany and the Environmental protection Agency (EPA) of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan carried out a disposal operation, by which 62 tons of insecticide Gusathion were collected and sent to UK for incineration. Additionally 70 tons of obsolete Dimethoate, also an insecticide, have been safeguarded9.
The Dutch Embassy in Islamabad financed in 1998-2000 a disposal operation and a survey in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture of the Punjab Province. Altogether 324 tons of obsolete pesticides have been collected and transported to the Netherlands for final disposal. Parallel to this disposal operation a survey was carried out and 168 stores in the Punjab Province were identified holding a total of 1000 tons of obsolete pesticides.
Information collected from authorities and results of a survey by the GTZ indicate that around 3500 tons of pesticide still exist in Pakistan10.
4.6.2 Existing legislation
The following environmental legislation is in place in Pakistan:
- Pakistan Environmental Act, 1997- Environmental Tribunal Rules, 1999- National Environmental Quality Standards- The Pollution Charge for Industry Rules, 2001.- Hazardous Substance Rules, 2003
4.6.3 Treatment and disposal facilities
Facilities for solid wastes management are in poor condition. Only half of the urban wastes are disposed in sewers, with most remaining untreated. Around 40% of such wastes are discarded in the streets or at collection sites. Solid wastes treatment has been privatized in order to keep up with the demand for solid wastes treatment services. Only Karachi and Islamabad have sewage treatment plants. Communities are being encouraged to participate in enhancing their solid wastes treatment capacities.
4.6.4 Institutions involved
Ministries of Environment, Urban Affairs, Forestry and Wildlife and Energy Conservation are responsible for addressing environmental issues.
The Government of Pakistan approved the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) on 1 March 1992. All reports regarding strategies, policies and programmes for sustainable development are drawn up on the basis of the NCS. The environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals is a core-issue for the National Conservation Strategy.
Pakistan is involved in a project called "Transfer of Technology for Sustainable Industrial Development" with the Swiss Government.
9 Basel Action Network (BAN),c/o Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange, Seattle, U.S.A.,Email:[email protected], website:www.ban.org, Society for Conservation of Protection of Environment (SCOPE), Karachi, Pakistan, Email:[email protected]., Nityanand Jayaraman, Greenpeace International (India)10 Obsolete Pesticide Disposal Project Punjab (Final Report): Pilot Project Chemical Safety53113 Bonn/Germany Tulpenfeld 2; German Technical Cooperation (GTZ): Pilot Project Chemical Safety
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There are numerous universities holding full-time graduate courses on environmental subjects, including: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro (MSc Environmental Engineering); Department of Environmental Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi (MSc Environmental Engineering); Institute of Environmental Engineering and Research, University of Engineering and Research, Lahore (MSc Environmental Engineering); Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, National University of Science and Technology, Rawalpindi (MSc and PhD Environmental Engineering); Department of Environmental Sciences (BSc, MSc, PhD in Environmental Sciences), University of Peshawar; Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Karachi (MSc and PhD Environmental Sciences).
4.7 Tajikistan
Tajikistan with a population of 6 million, has the lowest per capita GDP among 15 former Soviet Republics.
Cotton is the most important crop. Mineral resources, varied but limited in amount, include silver, gold, uranium, and tungsten.
Under the Soviet rule mining industry, metallurgy, machinery, chemical and construction manufacturing sectors were intensively developed in Tajikistan.
Extraction of silver, mercury, antimony, lead, gold and rare metals take place in northern Tajikistan. There are slimes and huge amount of wastes originating from mining industry, which easily contaminate water and soil with toxic, chemical and radioactive elements
Tajikistan is a party to several multilateral environmental agreements such as CBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD, and The Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
4.7.1 Type and amount of hazardous wastes
Tajik aluminum plant, Nitric Fertilizer Plant and Yavan Chemical Plant are considered as the largest sources of toxic industrial wastes formation.
Annually 4.4 million tons of solid wastes are collected. Solid communal wastes mainly consist of food garbage (40-50%), glass and ceramics (7%), metals and plastics (22%) and other components11.
Yavan chemical plant produces caustics and bleaches from chlorine and dumps the hazardous wastes into the urban wastes sites.
Over 1000 tons of galvanic wastes that contain high toxic elements, such as cadmium, cobalt, nickel, chromium, and arsenic are annually generated at 50 industrial units of the country11.
More than 600-1000 pieces of used luminescent lamps that contain mercury vapors are annually thrown out, instead of proper storing.
The dumping site for radioactive wastes in Fayzabad region (FZRP), which was used under the Soviet rule, has been disregarded.
4.7.2 Existing legislation
The following environmental legislation is in place in Tajikistan:
- Law on nature protection- Law on atmospheric air protection- Law on entrails- Law on preservation and use of fauna- Law on nature reserves- Law on state sanitary control- Land Code
11 Tajikistan Ministry of Environment report
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- Water Code- Forest Code
4.7.3 Treatment and disposal facilities
Total area of all wastes sites in Tajikistan is 1100 hectares, of which more than 800 hectares are occupied by ore mining wastes. Out of total amount of all accumulated wastes, the contribution of ore-mining wastes, solid communal wastes and various industrial wastes are 77%, 19% and 4% respectively. There are more then 70 sites for solid communal wastes storing, and 20 sites for industrial wastes storing.
4.7.4 Institutions involved
The State Committee on Nature Protection was established in 1988, later transformed into the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 1992 and then into the Ministry for Nature Protection in 1994.
Additionally the following ministries are involved in the protection of environment: Water Supply, Healthcare, Agriculture, State Committee on Land-use, State Forest Authority and State Mining Inspection.
Research Laboratory for Nature Protection is the principal scientific-research unit within the structure of the Ministry for Nature Protection. It was founded in 1993 in response to growing demands of nature protection agencies.
4.8 Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan, population of 4 million, is a largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated areas. Most of the irrigated land was developed under the Soviet rule for planting cotton and Turkmenistan is the world’s tenth largest cotton producer
The industry is dominated by mining activities, based on exploiting the rich natural resources. Oil refineries, and also chemical industry enterprises are mainly located in western and eastern regions close to the mineral deposits.
The major environmental issues currently are contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides, desertification, salination, Caspian Sea pollution and drying of the Aral Sea due to the diversion of Amu Darya for irrigation.
Turkmenistan is a party to various international environmental agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes and Ozone Layer ProtectionLivestock is also an important agricultural industry, based on extensive opportunities for grazing. Karakul sheep-breeding activity is the most widely spread traditional branch of the Turkmenistan livestock husbandry.
4.8.1 Type and amount of hazardous waste
7 million tonnes of various wastes are generated annually in Turkmenistan. Of these, household wastes make up 150 to 230 kg per person12.
The industrial wastes mostly result from construction, mining industry (dumps), petroleum refining, sanitary and household wastewater12.
Approximately 350 million tonnes of tailings are found near the sulfur plant in Gaurdak with addition of 8 to 10 million tonnes annually12.
4.8.2 Existing legislations
The constitutional act of Turkmenistan " On Independence and Foundations of the State Organization" adopted on October 27, 1991 is the main law dealing with environmental issues.
12 The State of Environment of Turkmenistan. Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan. Ashgabat, 1999.
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4.8.3 Treatment and disposal facilities
4.8.4 Linkage institutions
The main organization responsible for protection of the environment is the Ministry of Nature Protection of Turkmenistan.
The Department of Ecology of the Turkmen State University provides educational courses on the environment.
4.9 Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan with a population of around 25 million is one of the important countries of the Central Asia. About 44% of its population are engaged in agricultural production.
Under the former Soviet rule, excessive use of agrochemicals and outdated irrigation systems for the production of cotton led to acute land degradation and soil contamination in Uzbekistan.
Main environmental problems facing Uzbekistan are insufficient supply of potable water, salination and degradation of land, air pollution, accumulation of solid wastes and desertification.
Uzbekistan enjoys numerous industrial units, active in mining, metallurgical and chemical sectors. These industries generate large quantities of solid and hazardous wastes.
Uzbekistan is a Party to numerous multilateral environmental agreements like CBD, UNFCC, Kyoto Protocol, UNCCD, CITES, Basel Convention and the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.
4.9.1 Type and amount of hazardous wastes
It is estimated that 10-12,000 tons of obsolete pesticides in poor storage condition exist in Uzbekistan.
About 100 million tons of wastes are generated annually, including 25 million m3 of wastes ore, 42 million tons of concentration tailings, 300 thousands tons of metallurgical slag and 30 million m3 of municipal wastes. Due to improper storage and disposal of these wastes, phenols, oil products, heavy metals, arsenic, cyanide and other pollutants leak to the ground and surface waters13.
At the moment, solid wastes are dumped into uncontrolled landfills, thereby creating an ecological and sanitary problem.
4.9.2 Existing legislation
Environmental legislation in Uzbekistan includes 80 laws and regulations governing the use of natural resources and environmental impact of economic activities.
The Law on Nature Protection was adopted in 1992. Other important legislation include, the Law on Nature Protection, the Law on Underground Nature (1994) and the Law on Air Protection (1981). The Law “On the Protection of Nature” (1992) consists of eleven sections and 53 Articles. It provides legal and technical basis for rational protection of the environment.
There are inter-ministerial acts related to nature protection. Regulations on nature protection funds approved by the resolution of the Cabinet (1993) and the Resolution of the Cabinet "On introduction of charges for exceeded standards of emissions (discharge) of pollutants into the environment and wastes” are the most important ones.
4.9.3 Institutions involved
Major agencies responsible for environmental protection in Uzbekistan are the State Committee for Nature Protection and the Chief Office of Hydrometeorology.
Important NGOs involved in Aral Sea Protection Committee are Ekolog Unity and Eremurus International Club.
13 Report by the Finish Environment Institute under the assignment of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland (1998)
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5. Specific Needs assessment
Information required for the “specific needs assessment” of the region related to the management of hazardous wastes, were collected from the questionnaire filled and returned by the countries proposed to be covered by the Iranian centre. These information have been collated in Tables (4) and (5). On the needs for effective management of hazardous wastes in the region, the followings can be concluded:
5.1 Operation of landfills. Technical knowledge about environmentally sound operation of landfills is needed for the majority of countries. For example in most countries municipal and industrial wastes are dumped into the same landfills and landfills are not monitored systematically;
5.2 Transboundary movement of hazardous wastes. The following issues need to be discussed amongst the regional countries: notification procedures on export/import of hazardous wastes, improvement of regional countries legislations, training customs officers and safe transportation of wastes;
5.3 Wastes classification. Most of the regional countries have their own definitions and classification of wastes. Adaptation of Basel Convention’s classification, such as Annexes VIII and IX and collecting hazardous wastes data on these basis will provide a common understanding;
5.4 Hazardous wastes disposal and treatment. The issue of technologies available and needed for disposal and treating wastes, such as landfills, incineration, recovery and recycle need to be addressed among regional countries;
5.5 Enforcing legislations. The most important and at the same time difficulty shared by all regional countries is enforcing legislations. Improving legislations and reducing bureaucratic obstacles often assist enforcement.
5.6 Environmentally Sound Management of the Health Care services. Infectious and municipal wastes are often dumped into the same landfills in the regional countries and no segregation of the wastes is carried out. Only a few hospitals in the region enjoy in-house incinerators.
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Table (4) Hazardous wastes related problem areas for candidate countriesCriterion
Afg
hani
stan
Iran
Kaz
akhs
tan
Paki
stan
Tajik
ista
n
Uzb
ekis
tan
Landfill
Sewage
Wastes problems
With Tailings
Wastes oil
Expired pesticides
Spent catalyst
Medical wastes
PCB
Table (5) Training needs of candidate countries
Criterion
Afg
hani
stan
Iran
Kaz
akhs
tan
Paki
stan
Tajik
ista
n
Uzb
ekis
tan
Wastes classification
Data collection
Inventory
Analytical labs
Improving
Legislations
Enforcing legislation
Training customs officers
Public awareness
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6. Functions of the proposed centre
In line with the contents of the Convention and relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention and upon receiving needed approval by the COP, the BCRC should start its activity as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the details of such activities will be defined, after consultations with potential member countries, in a project document, which will be signed between the Center and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.
Meanwhile the general outlines of the activities of the centre, considered to be important for countries covered by the centre are as follows:
6.1 To gather, assess and disseminate data and information in the field of hazardous wastes and other wastes to Parties of the Region and to the SBC. Up-to-date information on legislations of the regional countries, hazardous wastes treatment centres in the region, inventory of wastes, experts, regional and international training courses, and educational institutions are some of the headings for setting up a database. The BCRC may also embark upon collecting information on new or proven environmentally sound technologies and know-how relating to environmentally sound management and minimization of the generation of hazardous wastes and other wastes and disseminate such information to Parties of the Region at their request, including on locally developed technologies. Once the database is established, it will be accessible via a website. Moreover the BCRC would establish and maintain regular exchange of information and networking among the Parties of the Region, with the private sector, academic circles and NGOs;
6.2 To develop and conduct training courses, workshops, seminars and associated projects in the field of the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, transfer of environmentally sound technology and minimization of the generation of hazardous wastes with specific emphasis on training the trainers. Following the needs assessment carried out and also consultations with representatives of the regional countries, suitable training courses will be provided by the centre. The BCRC, during its first year of activity will engage in providing about four training programs.
6.3 To provide scientific, technical and legal assistance and advice to the Parties of the Region at their request, on matters relevant to the environmentally sound management including minimization of hazardous and other wastes, the implementation of the provisions of the Basel Convention and other related matters;
6.4 To encourage best approaches, practices and methodologies for the environmentally sound management and minimization of the generation of hazardous wastes and other wastes, i.e. through case studies and pilot projects;
6.5 To arrange visits to wastes management sites so that regional countries can share information and expertise.
6.6 To keep public aware of the consequences of environmental degradation and the way it affects their quality of life.
6.7 To encourage and promote scientific research on issues and problems related to hazardous waste management, taking into account specific needs of the region. An important task of the centre might be to locate hot spots in the region in terms of hazardous wastes generation and facilitate needed research activities.
6.8 To mobilize human, financial and material resources in order to meet the urgent needs at the request of the Party (ies) of the Region faced with incidents or accidents which cannot be solved with the means of the individual Party (ies) concerned;
6.9 To cooperate with the United Nations and its bodies, in particular UNEP and the Specialized Agencies, and with other relevant intergovernmental organizations, industry and non-governmental organizations, and, where appropriate, with any other institution, in order to coordinate activities and develop and implement joint projects related to the provisions of the Basel Convention; and
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6.10 To perform any other functions assigned to it by the Parties of the Region, consistent with decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention.
7. Structure of the proposed BCRC
Once established the BCRC will have an independent structure legally, maintaining a bank account and ability to contract on its own, and financially. The government of Iran will assist with the running of the centre in such matters as paying the staff’s salary and provision of other assistances such as privileges and immunities, liability, visa requirement for participation in meetings as will be elaborated in the Framework Agreement. However, the independent identity of the centre will be maintained to enable the centre to act its regional role.
The establishment of the BCRC in the I.R. of Iran will benefit the countries under its coverage as well as the host country in various ways. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, strongly supports the establishment of the centre and would contribute to it in terms of needed financial and staffing resources. Once the BCRC is established, its first year of operation will be very important and coordination with the Secretariat and other regional countries is much needed.
7.1 The Governing Board
The governing board of the centre will consist of the representatives of countries under its coverage, the Basel Secretariat, the Government of the I.R. of Iran.
There will be annual/twice a year board meetings to discuss issues like training courses, workshops, financial plans, public awareness campaigns and any other matter related to the running of the centre.
7.2 Location
The centre will be based in Pardisan Park Environmental Research Centre, Hemmat Expressway, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Department of Environment will represent the Government of Iran in the activities of the centre.
7.3 Staff
An executive director will coordinate the activities of the staff which consist of an administration officer and a secretary. Staff will be the employed and their salaries paid by the Government of Iran.
The director of the centre should enjoy needed qualifications, i.e. experience in the management of hazardous wastes and dealing with related technologies. Excellent communication skills to enable the executive director to establish contacts with governmental organizations, industries and NGOs across the region as well as within Iran would be of outmost importance. Good command of English and fair knowledge of Russian would be an advantage.
The responsibilities of the executive director will be as follows:
1) Coordinating the activities of the staff;2) Establishing regular contacts with members of the governing board;3) Establishing contacts with regional and international experts for participation in training courses and
workshops;4) Coordinating activities for setting up a website for the centre;5) Arranging board meetings;6) Collecting material for public awareness campaigns;7) Establishing networks in industries and governmental organizations of the member countries;
The administration officer needs to be proficient in administrative skills and accounting. The responsibilities of the administration officer will be as follows:
1) Budget control and financial planning;2) Coordinating with the executive director the annual meetings of the governing board, training courses,
workshops and keeping record of the proceedings.
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3) Arranging conference facilities, information leaflets about the courses and any other activities related to the annual meetings, training courses and the workshops.
4) Drafting annual reports on the performance of the centre, including information about progress of projects, training courses, financial deficits/gains and shortcomings related to the running of the centre.
The secretary will perform the office works.
Training programmes and workshops will be carried out with the assistance of regional and international experts.
8. Financing the centre
Financial assistance will be required for the first three years of its operation and the The I. R. of Iran has the pleasure of contributing the amount of $200,000 for establishing the centre. The Government will also provide required personal computers and office facilities as well as needed personnel.
During following years most of the centre’s costs will need to be met by voluntary contributions from countries in the region/international donors and additionally fees obtained from workshops and training programmes, upon agreement by the member states, can be considered as an important source of income. Appendix (G) shows a forecast of the activity and business plan for the first five years of the proposed BCRC.
International experts will be employed for training of trainers at the regional level. Some training courses will be sub-contracted.
The I. R. of Iran has signed memorandum of understanding and bilateral agreements on environmental issues with Austria, India, Oman, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Norway, France, Saudi Arabia, China, England and Japan. These countries will be approached by the BCRC for donations and assistance such as providing training experts.
Table (6) shows a rough forecast for the earnings and expenses of the centre for its first three years of operation.
Table (6) Forecast of operating costs for the first three years of the BCRC
Costs Year 1 Year 2 Year 3EXPENDITURES
Fees for experts $12000 $12000 $12000Airfare travel expenses for
the experts$12000 $12000 $12000
Airfare travel and accommodation expenses
for the BCRC staff
$40,000 $40,000 $40,000
Employment of part time staff for various activities
15,000 16,000 17,000
Publication of leaflets and proceedings
$3000 $2000 $2000
Rental of Conference Halls $20,000 $20,000 $20,000Total $102,000 $102,000 $103,000
INCOMESContribution from
international institutions/countries
$60,000 $60,000 $60,000
Contribution from the government of I.R.Iran
$67,000 67,000 67,000
Total $127,000 $127,000 $127,000Operating costs surplus/deficits
25,000 (Surplus) $25,000 (Surplus)
$24,000 (Surplus)
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APPENDIX A: UNEP Document (UNEP/CHW.6/CRP.5) containing the 6th COP decision on the proposal by the I.R. Iran to establish a BCRC in Tehran
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APPENDIX B: Report to the Secretariat of the National Meeting on Needs Assessment and Establishment of a Regional Center on Hazardous Waste Management(April, 2003, Tehran, IR of Iran)
Following the proposal by the I.R.Iran (document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/11) accompanied by feasibility study (document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/9) for the establishment of a BCRC in Tehran a decision was reached by the 6th COP (document UNEP/CHW.6/CRP.5).
The COP decided (document UNEP/CHW.6/CRP.5) to welcome the proposal by the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC and invited the government of the I.R.Iran to develop further and complete the feasibility study in consultation with the countries in the region and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation. Additionally the COP invited the government of I.R.Iran to undertake activities to ascertain the needs of the region and the capacity of the proposed centre to address such needs and to submit, in consultation with the Secretariat, a final proposal for the establishment of the centre to the 7th COP
Following the decision by the 6th COP a task force has been set up by the Department of Environment to deal with the technical and executive issues related to the COP’s decision on the completion of the feasibility study and coordination with other BCRCs in the neighbouring regions.
An important outcome of the monthly meetings of this task force has been the drafting of an action plan to provide for the requirements of the decision taken by the 6th COP.
The first stage of the action plan is the realisation of the abilities and inadequacies of the I.R.Iran to host the BCRC by organizing national workshops, training courses and exhibitions on a variety of issues related to the Basel Convention. The first such workshop was held late April/2003 in Tehran at the Ministry of Mine and Industry with the purpose of raising awareness at governmental and national level about the text of the Basel Convention, the Annexes and commitments of the signatories to the convention.
Following the workshop, a national exhibition was held on 13/8/2003 at the Hoveizeh Hotel in Tehran with 160 people participating from governmental institutions, universities, NGOs and private industries. The exhibition was given national coverage by the media and interviews were conducted with the organising panel. Prior to the exhibition the following activities were carried out:
a) Preparation of an information pack including a floppy diskette containing 185 pages of information on the text of Basel Convention, proposal by Iran to establish the BCRC, decision by the 6th COP and the action plan for the provision of the requirements of the decision.
b) Dispatching an invitation to the Secretariat to attend the one-day exhibition.
c) Setting up of an email address, separate telephone and Fax to answer inquiries
d) A bag containing the timetable of the exhibition, a pen, paper and I.D cards for the participants.
e) The whole exhibition was recorded on the camera and photographs of the exhibition were also taken.
During the morning session, the deputy head of the Department of Environment, Dr. Hojjat, gave a talk on industrialisation and its impact on the environment. The next speaker, Mr. Tekieh-Sadat from the Foreign Ministry, talked about the Basel Convention and the responsibilities of the member states and also the functioning of the Convention. The next speaker, Dr. Bahmani from the University of Tarbiat-Moalem, provided a power point presentation on the feasibility study submitted by Iran and also explained the terms of reference for the BCRCs. The last speaker in the morning session, Miss. Talaie-Zadeh from the Department of Environment, provided a power point presentation of the text of the convention and also explained the Annexes emphasising the y-codes.
A panel of three experts was formed and the 160 participants were divided into five working groups. The working groups were requested to discuss a subject from the following list:
1) Provision of guidelines for the prevention, reduction and recycling of hazardous wastes within the framework of the Basel Convention.
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2) Provision of guidelines for capacity building for the transfer of environmentally sound technologies.3) Provision of guidelines for the reduction of the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
4) Provision of guidelines for activities leading to the achievement of the goals of the convention and the role of BCRC in this line.
5) Provision of guidelines for (a) raising awareness and development of information exchange mechanisms (b) networking and establishing contacts with international organizations (c) industries and their environmental issues.
After two and half hours of discussion the leaders of working groups were requested to present their findings.
The second stage of the action plan is to carry out a specific needs assessment in the region and thereafter to organise a regional workshop/exhibition, in matters related to the Basel Convention, with cooperation of the regional countries. It is hoped that following this regional workshop capabilities and inadequacies of the I.R.Iran and the regional countries for the establishment of a BCRC in the region will be evaluated.
We are currently, establishing contacts with the BCRCs of the neighbouring regions and regional countries by email and fax to organise the regional exhibition.
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APPENDIX C
This appendix contains the questionnaire sent to the focal points of the candidate countries.
COUNTRY
NAME
ORGANIZATION AND POSITIONADDRESS
PHONE
EMAIL
FAX
1) MEMBERSHIP OF BASEL CONVENTION
1.1) Is your country a member of the Basel convention?
1.2) If it is not, is there an intention to become a member?
1.3) If the answer to question (1.2) is yesWhen do you expect to become a member?What factors will influence the decision?
2) FOCAL POINTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BASEL CONVENTION
2.1) Is there a focal point for waste management established in your country?
2.2) Which agency is or likely to be the focal point?
2.3) Has a budget been established for the focal point
2.4) Are the export/import of hazardous waste monitored in your country?
3) WASTE MANAGEMENT LEGISLATION
3.1) Are there any legislation on hazardous waste management in your country?Please attach copies of relevant laws.
4) TYPE AND AMOUNTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTES
4.1) What are the major industries in your country, especially those producing hazardous wastes?
4.2) Are the information about type and amount of waste produced in your country available?Please attach information (with dates information collected)).
5) IMPORT AND EXPORT OF HAZARDOUS WASTES
5.1) Is your country currently exporting/importing any hazardous wastes?Please attach information (type, amount, date information collected)
6) HAZARDOUS WASTEMANAGEMENT FACILITIES
6.1) Please tick those that are available in your country;
6.2) Please provide further information (name, location, and capacity) about facilities in question (6.1).
7) TRAINING FACILITIES
7.1) Is your country willing to host any sub-regional training center?
7.2) Are there any educational institutions in your country that provide training courses on public health, hazardous waste management?Please provide information about these institutions (name of institute, course and qualification offered, course coordinator (e.g. B.Sc, M.Sc, P.hD.)
7.3) Are there residential facilities near these institutions?
7.4) Are there any laboratories in your country that are capable of waste analysis?Please provide information (name, type of wastes handled)
7.5) Are there experts in your country who can provide training courses in matters related to the Basel Convention (e.g., waste management training and technology transfer, implementation, working guidelines, etc.)
8) SPECIFIC NEEDS ASSESSMENT
What are the needs of your country?
1 High priority2 Low priority3 No priority
8.1) Hazardous waste management
Waste identification and testing/analyzing procedures Waste classification Hazards associated with hazardous wastes Segregation of incompatible hazardous wastes Classification, packaging and labeling of hazardous wastes Waste minimization options Clean production options
8.2) Implementation of the Basel Convention procedures
Notification procedures Decision making procedures Reporting procedures Developing and adapting legislation Capacity building of customs and enforcement officers on illegal trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes
8.3) Dissemination of information
Information network such as local NGO, regional experts focal points, Basel regional centersApproved hazardous waste treatment facilities in the region Physical, chemical and biological characteristics of hazardous wastesRecycling, reuse and disposal of hazardous wastes
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Laboratory analytical procedures Health and hazard characteristics of specific wastes Laboratory facilities and capabilities available in the region Licensed (or approved) waste transporters in the region Status and content of legislation within region
8.4) Technology transfer
Collection and processing of data on hazardous wastes Technology of hospital waste treatment and disposal Landfill technology Waste lead-acid batteries recovery technology Equipments used in hazardous waste treatment and disposal Incineration technology
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APPENDIX D: Report of the Regional Meeting on Needs Assessment andEstablishment of a Regional Center on Hazardous Waste Management(13-14 April, 2004, Tehran, IR of Iran)
*************
During the sixth Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran made a proposal, contained in document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/11, to host a Basel Convention Regional Center (BCRC). The document contained the rational behind the proposal including the special needs of the countries in west and central Asia. In addition, the Iranian Government prepared and presented a feasibility study on the proposed center, contained in document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/9. In that document, inabilities, capabilities, existing legislations and the needs of the countries in the region were incorporated. The COP6 reviewed the abovementioned documents and approved the decision VI/6 on the proposal. In operative paragraph 1 of the decisions, the COP welcomed the offer of the Iranian Government to host the proposed center. In operative paragraphs 2, the Iranian Government was invited to develop further and complete the feasibility study in consultation with the countries in the region and the BCRCs located in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation. In Paragraph 3, the Iranian Government was invited to undertake the activities to ascertain the needs of the region and the capacity of the proposed center to address such needs.
In order to implement paragraphs 2 and 3 of decision VI/7 of the sixth Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention, entitled “Proposal to establish a Basel Convention Regional Center in the IR of Iran,” the Iranian government made necessary arrangements and hosted a regional meeting on Needs Assessment and Establishment of a Regional Center on Hazardous Waste Management in Tehran from 13 to 14 April 2004.
High-level delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, Regional Office of Caspian Environment Program (CEP), Regional Organization for the Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME), as well as Iranian Nationals from governmental, non-governmental and academic sectors participated in the Meeting. The list of participants is herewith attached.
During the opening ceremony on the first day of the Meeting, Dr. Yousef Hojjat, Deputy Vice President and Deputy Head of the Department of Environment, Mr. Hassan Tajik, Director for International Economic Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Mr. Sarrafi, secretary of the Iranian National Committee on Sustainable Development and several other high-level officials made statements. The speakers expressed their views on the rational behind the proposal of the Iranian government to host a Basel Convention Regional Center on Hazardous Waste Management and invited the participants to raise their points of view, concerns and needs in this regard.
Dr. Hassan Mohammadi, Representative of ROPME, made a statement on the activities of his regional organization and raised his concerns over the continued contamination of marine environment of the ROPME area. While expressing his organization’s support for the establishment of a Basel Convention regional center in Iran, he invited the participants to render more efforts at both national and regional levels to prevent introduction of hazardous wastes into the environment. He informed the participants of the existing a Protocol on the Control of Marine Transboundary Movements and Disposal of Hazardous Wastes and Other Wastes in ROPME Region. He announced the willingness of ROPME secretariat to cooperate with the proposed center in the future.
The participants took the opportunity and visited Shimi-Keshavarz, a chemical factory in city of Qazvin. The visitors were briefed by the managers on the plans and how the factory treats hazardous wastes and the endeavors for their minimization.
On the second day, representatives of the governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan made statements and expressed their viewpoints and positions on the issues under consideration. They raised their concerns over the current level of treatment and management of hazardous wastes in the region. They warned about the existing negative deleterious impacts of hazardous wastes on the environment as well as on human life. The participants enumerated the following needs and requirements at national and regional levels with a view to improving the management:
n) Enhancement of capacity building, including administrative and legal systems in order to meet the new challenges and implement the provisions of the Basel Convention;
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o) Public awareness raising and, in that framework, holding workshops and training courses for the staff of relevant governmental and non-governmental organizations and local people as well as academic and private sectors. To this end, holding the following courses were highly recommended:
i) Health care in management of hazardous wastes;
ii) Techniques for auditing of inventory of hazardous wastes;
iii) Classifications of wastes;
iv) Operation of landfills;
v) Sound management and treatment of hazardous waste;
vi) Provisions of Basel Convention and other related MEAs.
p) Technical cooperation at both regional and international levels, expertise, skilled human resources, environmentally sound and new technologies, and financial constrains at both stages of planning and implementation. Not to mention that industries in many countries of the region are using old and often environmentally unsound methods and technologies and therefore technology transfer is needed;
q) Notification procedures for transboundary movement of hazardous wastes;
r) Management of biomedical wastes;
s) Reliable relevant data and exchange of information, knowledge and experiences;
t) Monitoring the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposals;
u) Coordination and cooperation for management of hazardous wastes among various stakeholders at national and regional levels;
v) An effective regional mechanism for management of hazardous wastes and their disposal in general, and full implementation of the Basel Convention in particular;
w) Sound management of ship dismantling and recycling;
x) Analysis of hazardous wastes;
y) Emergency response;
z) Assessment of adverse impacts of hazardous wastes on ecosystems.
Several presentations were delivered by Iranian experts during the Meeting on:
1) Environmentally Sound Management of Ship Dismantling,
2) Innovation in Processes for Reduction of Toxic Chemicals,
3) Hazardous Waste Management in Iran,
4) The Needs for establishment of a BCRC in Iran.
With regard to the need for establishment of a center in the region, the following delegations made statements:
Representative of Afghanistan pointed out that his government fully supports Iran’s Proposal to host a Basel Convention Regional Center. He hoped that this center will address the needs of his country as well as the region.
Representative of Bangladesh said that there are 12 BCRCs throughout the world, while there are just two centers in Asia located in eastern part, China and Indonesia. While supporting the establishment of the center in Iran, he proposed the area of coverage of this center, in addition to west and central Asia, extends to south Asia to make sure Bangladesh and some other countries in that sub-region will also be covered.
Representative of Pakistan supported the proposal to establish a BCRC in Iran and stressed on the need of the region for such a center.
Representative of Kazakhstan expressed his support for establishment of the BCRC in Iran.
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Representative of Tajikistan reiterated that although his government is not a party to the Basel Convention and this issue is on its agenda for consideration, he strongly supports the establishment of the BCRC in Iran. He added that all countries in the region will certainly benefit from such a center and the environmental situation in that region will be improved.
Representative of Uzbekistan expressed his full support for the establishment of the center in Iran and wished this center a success.
Representative of Iran referred to the two existing BCRCs in East Asia and stressed on the need for setting up another one in west Asia to cover that large area. He added that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will contribute to this exercise, finalize the feasibility study of the proposed center based on the expressed needs of the countries in the region and submit it to COP7 for its consideration.
While considering to the past two decades and the suffering of the region from the impacts of several major wars, the participants concluded that the establishment of mechanism such as a Basel Convention Regional Center in the Islamic Republic of Iran is necessary and would contribute to meeting the above-mentioned needs of the countries in the region. They, therefore, urged the Seventh Conference of the parties to Basel Convention to approve the proposal.
The participants requested the existing regional centers to consider the special needs of this region and asked for their understanding and cooperation. They appreciated the effective role of the Basel Convention Secretariat in facilitating better implementation of the Convention, including its support and contribution towards the establishment of the regional centers.
Delegations encouraged the Iranian government to continue its efforts in developing further the feasibility study and to present it to the forthcoming Conference of the Parties to Basel Convention, as recommended by decision VI/7 of COP6, based on the needs expressed and recommendations made by the delegations in Tehran Meeting.
This report and its annex were approved unanimously by the delegations from all seven countries of the region participating in the Meeting.
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APPENDIX E: Examples of messages sent and received from the BCRCs in China, Indonesia, Russia and Egypt.
BCRC in Indonesia
Ms.Sulistyowati H. Dr Majid Bahmani,Executive Director of BCRC Jakarta Senior technical advisor,Ministry of Environment, Department of Environment,JL DI Panjaitan Kav.24, No.187 Ostad Nejatollahi Ave,6D Otori Ta Batam Lt.6 Kebun Nanas Tehran,Indonesia Islamic Republic of Iran,Tel(6221) 8590 6167 Tel(98 21) 890 3720Fax(6221) 8590 6167/8590 4923 Tele Fax(98 21) 826 4003Email:[email protected] Email: [email protected]
It is hereby conveyed to you that following a decision by the government of Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.Iran) to establish a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (B.C.R.C.) for hazardous waste management, a proposal to host the center for the West and Central Asia was made by I.R.Iran to the Secretariat of the Basel convention and this proposal was taken note of at the 6th COP (document UNEP/CHW.6/CRP.5 in Annex I).
In the proposal (the Basel document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/11) the following countries have been included in the list of potential countries that could be considered for cooperation and coordination of activities of the center:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, I.R. Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan.
The proposed center is envisaged to link the hazardous waste management activities of the countries in the West and Central Asia and will carry out specific needs assessment studies of the hazardous waste management issues at national and regional levels. Following the needs assessment, training courses and workshops on the most important issues will be provided. Regional and international experts will present these training courses.
The proposal to the Secretariat was accompanied by a feasibility study (document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/9) highlighting the capabilities and inadequacies of the regional countries for the management of hazardous wastes.
The COP’s decision (Annex I) was to welcome the proposal by the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC and invited the government of the I.R.Iran to develop further and complete the feasibility study in consultation with the countries in the region and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation. Additionally the COP invited the government of I.R.Iran to undertake activities to ascertain the needs of the region and the capacity of the proposed centre to address such needs and to submit, in consultation with the Secretariat, a final proposal for the establishment of the centre to the 7th COP.
Sir/Madam, I am a senior technical advisor to the Department of Environment, the Iranian focal point to the Basel convention, and I am organising the activities leading to the fulfillment of the required tasks as set by the COP’s decision.I would like to draw your attention to several important points regarding the decision by the I.R.Iran to propose to host a BCRC.
1) The I.R.Iran is strategically located between the Central Asian Republics and the Persian Gulf countries. It has a total of about 5440 Km of borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. In the south, in the Persian Gulf region, Iran has 2,440 km of coastline and in the north, around the Caspian Sea; it has 740 Km of coastline. It is difficult to control the trans boundary movement of hazardous and other wastes with such long borders, with so many countries and often with inadequate border control.
2) The landlocked Central Asian and the Caucasian republics increasingly utilise the I.R.Iran as the best transit route for access to the open seas at the Persian Gulf.
3) The need for the management of its domestic hazardous wastes and lack of existing regional cooperation for control over the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes has culminated in the proposal by the I.R.Iran to the Basel Convention for the establishment of a BCRC for the West and Central Asia in Tehran.
4) The neighbouring regional centers have been established on the basis of common language but hazardous wastes problems need trans lingual cooperation between regional countries. Countries such as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan do not share common language with their neighbouring countries nevertheless they share the same problems, with their neighbouring countries, in the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
In the COP's decision document (Annex I) two major tasks have been requested from the I.R.Iran, before further consideration of the proposal at the 7th COP namely:
1) Completion of the feasibility study submitted by the I.R.Iran with the assistance of the regional countries and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation and more importantly to define the relationship between the proposed centre and the aforementioned BCRCs
2) Carrying out specific needs assessment in the region to gather information about the inadequacies/capabilities of the regional countries in hazardous waste management issues.
With regards to the first task I am hoping to rely on the cooperation of the aforementioned BCRCs to assist the I.R.Iran in the pursuit of its goal.
I would like to point out that the word relationship as mentioned in the first task, I think, means that for the I.R.Iran to open a dialogue, with aforementioned BCRCs, in search of an optimum working relationship with regards to cooperation in all activities of the BCRCs. I may add further that, I think, the following subjects are of high priority in the agenda for discussion between the proposed BCRC and aforementioned BCRCs:
1) Membership: some of the countries mentioned in the list of potential countries for the proposed centre are already members of existing BCRCs. I suggest that a country can become a member of more than a BCRC and this arises from the Geo-Environmental location of that country. For example some of the Caucasian and the Central Asian republics are members of the BCRC in Russia nevertheless they share some environmental interests as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan e.g. the environmental issues of the Caspian Sea, the environmental issues with regards to construction of oil pipline across the Central Asian and the Caucasian republics.
Similarly, some of the countries in the Arabian Peninsula are already members of the BCRC in Egypt nevertheless problems with regards to the environmental issues of the Persian Gulf has immediate impact on the littoral states and therefore cooperation amongst these countries is vital.
I may add further, that trans boundary movement of the hazardous wastes and border control in the proposed region is currently not coordinated and regulation of these activities is vital for the sustainable development of the region.
2) Projects: It is possible that some of the projects and training courses that will be organised by the proposed BCRC may parallel those that have been organised by other BCRCs. To avoid such parallelism closer cooperation and consultation amongst BCRCs will be necessary. Needless to say that more practical training courses and projects such as data gathering and implementation of E.S.M. policies in regional countries in spite of probable parallelism would still be highly beneficial.
3) Financial matters: It is an important tenet of the Basel Convention on the BCRCs that they need to be self-sufficient financially. Lack of experience in fund raising activities for running training courses and projects will be a difficulty for the proposed BCRC. I think experience gained by other BCRCs in techniques and policies for self-sufficiency will be highly useful to the proposed centre and I therefore welcome any consultation and advice in this matter.
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Undoubtedly, the proposed centre with its management team will find any consultation and advice provided by other BCRCs most helpful and I hope that this letter will act a start for a useful relationship.
It is envisaged that following this introductory letter some arrangement will be made for the directors of the BCRC s in China, Russian Federation, Egypt and Indonesia to attend a meeting, here in Tehran, for further examination of the relationship between the proposed centre and other BCRCs.
We have been organising national workshops and symposium on Basel Convention since the decision by the 6th COP with the view of determining the inadequacies/capabilities of the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC.
Later this year, we are planning a regional symposium with the participation of the proposed countries and I hereby announce that any suggestion would be welcome to obtain the best output.
I thank you in advance and I look forward to receiving your reply.
Yours sincerely
Dr Majid Bahmani
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Message from the Director of the Indonesian BCRC confirming their support for the establishment of a BCRC in Tehran
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BCRC in China
Mr. Xia Yingxian Dr Majid Bahmani,Chief Programme Officer Senior technical advisor,Division of International Organisations Department of Environment,Department of International Co-operation No.187 Ostad Nejatollahi Ave,State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) Tehran,115 Xizhimenmei Nanxiaojie Islamic Republic of Iran,Beijing 100035, China Tel(98 21) 890 3720Fax(86 10) 6615 1762 Tele Fax(98 21) 826 4003Tel(86 10) 6615 1933 [email protected]@zhb.gov.cn [email protected]
Dear Mr. Xia Yingxian,
It is hereby conveyed to you that following a decision by the government of Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.Iran) to establish a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (B.C.R.C.) for hazardous waste management, a proposal to host the center for the West and Central Asia was made by I.R.Iran to the Secretariat of the Basel convention and this proposal was taken note of at the 6th COP (document UNEP/CHW.6/CRP.5 in Annex I).
In the proposal (the Basel document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/11) the following countries have been included in the list of potential countries that could be considered for cooperation and coordination of activities of the center:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, I.R. Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan.
The proposed center is envisaged to link the hazardous waste management activities of the countries in the West and Central Asia and will carry out specific needs assessment studies of the hazardous waste management issues at national and regional levels. Following the needs assessment, training courses and workshops on the most important issues will be provided. Regional and international experts will present these training courses.
The proposal to the Secretariat was accompanied by a feasibility study (document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/9) highlighting the capabilities and inadequacies of the regional countries for the management of hazardous wastes.
The COP’s decision (Annex I) was to welcome the proposal by the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC and invited the government of the I.R.Iran to develop further and complete the feasibility study in consultation with the countries in the region and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation. Additionally the COP invited the government of I.R.Iran to undertake activities to ascertain the needs of the region and the capacity of the proposed centre to address such needs and to submit, in consultation with the Secretariat, a final proposal for the establishment of the centre to the 7th COP.
Sir/Madam, I am a senior technical advisor to the Department of Environment, the Iranian focal point to the Basel convention, and I am organising the activities leading to the fulfillment of the required tasks as set by the COP’s decision.I would like to draw your attention to several important points regarding the decision by the I.R.Iran to propose to host a BCRC.
1) The I.R.Iran is strategically located between the Central Asian Republics and the Persian Gulf countries. It has a total of about 5440 Km of borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. In the south, in the Persian Gulf region, Iran has 2,440 km of coastline and in the north, around the Caspian Sea; it has 740 Km of coastline. It is difficult to control the trans boundary movement of hazardous and other wastes with such long borders, with so many countries and often with inadequate border control.
2) The landlocked Central Asian and the Caucasian republics increasingly utilise the I.R.Iran as the best transit route for access to the open seas at the Persian Gulf.
3) The need for the management of its domestic hazardous wastes and lack of existing regional cooperation for control over the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes has culminated in the proposal by the I.R.Iran to the Basel Convention for the establishment of a BCRC for the West and Central Asia in Tehran.
4) The neighbouring regional centers have been established on the basis of common language but hazardous wastes problems need trans lingual cooperation between regional countries. Countries such as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan do not share common language with their neighbouring countries nevertheless they share the same problems, with their neighbouring countries, in the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
In the COP's decision document (Annex I) two major tasks have been requested from the I.R.Iran, before further consideration of the proposal at the 7th COP namely:
1) Completion of the feasibility study submitted by the I.R.Iran with the assistance of the regional countries and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation and more importantly to define the relationship between the proposed centre and the aforementioned BCRCs
2) Carrying out specific needs assessment in the region to gather information about the inadequacies/capabilities of the regional countries in hazardous waste management issues.
With regards to the first task I am hoping to rely on the cooperation of the aforementioned BCRCs to assist the I.R.Iran in the pursuit of its goal.
I would like to point out that the word relationship as mentioned in the first task, I think, means that for the I.R.Iran to open a dialogue, with aforementioned BCRCs, in search of an optimum working relationship with regards to cooperation in all activities of the BCRCs. I may add further that, I think, the following subjects are of high priority in the agenda for discussion between the proposed BCRC and aforementioned BCRCs:
1) Membership: some of the countries mentioned in the list of potential countries for the proposed centre are already members of existing BCRCs. I suggest that a country can become a member of more than a BCRC and this arises from the Geo-Environmental location of that country. For example some of the Caucasian and the Central Asian republics are members of the BCRC in Russia nevertheless they share some environmental interests as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan e.g. the environmental issues of the Caspian Sea, the environmental issues with regards to construction of oil pipline across the Central Asian and the Caucasian republics.
Similarly, some of the countries in the Arabian Peninsula are already members of the BCRC in Egypt nevertheless problems with regards to the environmental issues of the Persian Gulf has immediate impact on the littoral states and therefore cooperation amongst these countries is vital.
I may add further, that trans boundary movement of the hazardous wastes and border control in the proposed region is currently not coordinated and regulation of these activities is vital for the sustainable development of the region.
2) Projects: It is possible that some of the projects and training courses that will be organised by the proposed BCRC may parallel those that have been organised by other BCRCs. To avoid such parallelism closer cooperation and consultation amongst BCRCs will be necessary. Needless to say that more practical training courses and projects such as data gathering and implementation of E.S.M. policies in regional countries in spite of probable parallelism would still be highly beneficial.
3) Financial matters: It is an important tenet of the Basel Convention on the BCRCs that they need to be self-sufficient financially. Lack of experience in fund raising activities for running training courses and projects will be a difficulty for the proposed BCRC. I think experience gained by other BCRCs in techniques and policies for self-sufficiency will be highly useful to the proposed centre and I therefore welcome any consultation and advice in this matter.
Undoubtedly, the proposed centre with its management team will find any consultation and advice provided by other BCRCs most helpful and I hope that this letter will act a start for a useful relationship.
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It is envisaged that following this introductory letter some arrangement will be made for the directors of the BCRC s in China, Russian Federation, Egypt and Indonesia to attend a meeting, here in Tehran, for further examination of the relationship between the proposed centre and other BCRCs.
We have been organising national workshops and symposium on Basel Convention since the decision by the 6th COP with the view of determining the inadequacies/capabilities of the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC.
Later this year, we are planning a regional symposium with the participation of the proposed countries and I hereby announce that any suggestion would be welcome to obtain the best output.
I thank you in advance and I look forward to receiving your reply.
Yours sincerelyDr Majid Bahmani
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 02:16:14 -0700 (PDT)From: "massoud boldaji" <[email protected]> Add to Address Book
Subject: Re: Establishment of a BCRC in IranTo: "Jinhui LI" <[email protected]>
Dear Dr. Li Jinhui,
It was a pleasure speaking with you earlier today and thank you very much for your quick response. Would you please be kind enough to e-mail me the name and e-mail address of the chinese focal point. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. I am looking forward to see you in Geneva during COP7. Thanks again for your help.
Dear Dr. Massoud Boldaji Thank you for your emails. Congratulate you have progress on the establishing of regional center in Iran. I have forwarded this emails to Chinese government after I have received.I suggest you send the letter officially to Chinese focal point if you want a response from Chinese givernment or BCRC China.
SincerelyJinhui LI Following our meeting during the Open-Ended Working Group 3 (OEWG3) in Geneva and your verbal support for establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (BCRC) in Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R. Iran), I am pleased to inform you that we have successfully completed our Feasibility Study and presently are in the process of submitting it to the office of Secretariat of the Basel Convention along with other supporting documents for translation, distribution and review prior to COP7. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your support and reiterate our seriousness about establishing our BCRC in order to help ourselves and the neighboring countries with environmentally sound management of the wastes generated through focused workshops, various trainings and sharing of information and expertise and also to help controlling the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
Please contact me with any comments and/or questions you may have. Please verify your support by confirming receipt of this e-mail. Thank you again for your help, consideration and support. Best Regards,Dr. Massoud BoldajiExecutive Director of Operations Iranپfs BCRC Project ---- Original Message -----
Dr. Li JinhuiAdministrative DirectorAsia-Pacific Regional Center for Hazardous Waste Management Training and Technology TransferE-mail: [email protected] ; [email protected]
Subject: Establishment of a BCRC in Iran Dear Dr. Jinhui, Following our meeting during the Open-Ended Working Group 3 (OEWG3) in Geneva and your verbal support for establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (BCRC) in Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R. Iran), I am pleased to inform you that we have successfully completed our Feasibility Study and presently are in the process of submitting it to the office of Secretariat of the Basel Convention along with other supporting documents for translation, distribution and review prior to COP7. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your support and reiterate our seriousness about establishing our BCRC in order to help ourselves and the neighboring countries with environmentally sound management of the wastes generated through focused workshops, various trainings and sharing of information and expertise and also to help controlling the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes. Please contact me with any comments and/or questions you may have. Please verify your support by confirming receipt of this e-mail. Thank you again for your help, consideration and support. Best Regards, Dr. Massoud BoldajiExecutive Director of Operations Iranپfs BCRC Project
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BCRC in Egypt
Mr Adel Shafei Osman Dr Majid Bahmani,Head, Hazardous Wastes Department Senior technical advisor,Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) Department of Environment,30 Misr Helwani Road No.187 Ostad Nejatollahi Ave,11728 Maadia Tehran,Cairo Islamic Republic of Iran,Tel (202) 525 6452 Tel(98 21) 890 3720Fax(202) 525 6475 Tele Fax(98 21) 826 [email protected][email protected]
It is hereby conveyed to you that following a decision by the government of Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.Iran) to establish a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (B.C.R.C.) for hazardous waste management, a proposal to host the center for the West and Central Asia was made by I.R.Iran to the Secretariat of the Basel convention and this proposal was taken note of at the 6th COP (document UNEP/CHW.6/CRP.5 in Annex I).
In the proposal (the Basel document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/11) the following countries have been included in the list of potential countries that could be considered for cooperation and coordination of activities of the center:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, I.R. Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan.
The proposed center is envisaged to link the hazardous waste management activities of the countries in the West and Central Asia and will carry out specific needs assessment studies of the hazardous waste management issues at national and regional levels. Following the needs assessment, training courses and workshops on the most important issues will be provided. Regional and international experts will present these training courses.
The proposal to the Secretariat was accompanied by a feasibility study (document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/9) highlighting the capabilities and inadequacies of the regional countries for the management of hazardous wastes.
The COP’s decision (Annex I) was to welcome the proposal by the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC and invited the government of the I.R.Iran to develop further and complete the feasibility study in consultation with the countries in the region and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation. Additionally the COP invited the government of I.R.Iran to undertake activities to ascertain the needs of the region and the capacity of the proposed centre to address such needs and to submit, in consultation with the Secretariat, a final proposal for the establishment of the centre to the 7th COP.
Sir/Madam, I am a senior technical advisor to the Department of Environment, the Iranian focal point to the Basel convention, and I am organising the activities leading to the fulfillment of the required tasks as set by the COP’s decision.I would like to draw your attention to several important points regarding the decision by the I.R.Iran to propose to host a BCRC.
1) The I.R.Iran is strategically located between the Central Asian Republics and the Persian Gulf countries. It has a total of about 5440 Km of borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. In the south, in the Persian Gulf region, Iran has 2,440 km of coastline and in the north, around the Caspian Sea; it has 740 Km of coastline. It is difficult to control the trans boundary movement of hazardous and other wastes with such long borders, with so many countries and often with inadequate border control.
2) The landlocked Central Asian and the Caucasian republics increasingly utilise the I.R.Iran as the best transit route for access to the open seas at the Persian Gulf.
3) The need for the management of its domestic hazardous wastes and lack of existing regional cooperation for control over the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes has culminated in the proposal by the I.R.Iran to the Basel Convention for the establishment of a BCRC for the West and Central Asia in Tehran.
4) The neighbouring regional centers have been established on the basis of common language but hazardous wastes problems need trans lingual cooperation between regional countries. Countries such as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan do not share common language with their neighbouring countries nevertheless they share the same problems, with their neighbouring countries, in the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
In the COP's decision document (Annex I) two major tasks have been requested from the I.R.Iran, before further consideration of the proposal at the 7th COP namely:
1) Completion of the feasibility study submitted by the I.R.Iran with the assistance of the regional countries and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation and more importantly to define the relationship between the proposed centre and the aforementioned BCRCs
2) Carrying out specific needs assessment in the region to gather information about the inadequacies/capabilities of the regional countries in hazardous waste management issues.
With regards to the first task I am hoping to rely on the cooperation of the aforementioned BCRCs to assist the I.R.Iran in the pursuit of its goal.
I would like to point out that the word relationship as mentioned in the first task, I think, means that for the I.R.Iran to open a dialogue, with aforementioned BCRCs, in search of an optimum working relationship with regards to cooperation in all activities of the BCRCs. I may add further that, I think, the following subjects are of high priority in the agenda for discussion between the proposed BCRC and aforementioned BCRCs:
1) Membership: some of the countries mentioned in the list of potential countries for the proposed centre are already members of existing BCRCs. I suggest that a country can become a member of more than a BCRC and this arises from the Geo-Environmental location of that country. For example some of the Caucasian and the Central Asian republics are members of the BCRC in Russia nevertheless they share some environmental interests as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan e.g. the environmental issues of the Caspian Sea, the environmental issues with regards to construction of oil pipline across the Central Asian and the Caucasian republics.
Similarly, some of the countries in the Arabian Peninsula are already members of the BCRC in Egypt nevertheless problems with regards to the environmental issues of the Persian Gulf has immediate impact on the littoral states and therefore cooperation amongst these countries is vital.
I may add further, that trans boundary movement of the hazardous wastes and border control in the proposed region is currently not coordinated and regulation of these activities is vital for the sustainable development of the region.
2) Projects: It is possible that some of the projects and training courses that will be organised by the proposed BCRC may parallel those that have been organised by other BCRCs. To avoid such parallelism closer cooperation and consultation amongst BCRCs will be necessary. Needless to say that more practical training courses and projects such as data gathering and implementation of E.S.M. policies in regional countries in spite of probable parallelism would still be highly beneficial.
3) Financial matters: It is an important tenet of the Basel Convention on the BCRCs that they need to be self-sufficient financially. Lack of experience in fund raising activities for running training courses and projects will be a difficulty for the proposed BCRC. I think experience gained by other BCRCs in techniques and policies for self-sufficiency will be highly useful to the proposed centre and I therefore welcome any consultation and advice in this matter.
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Undoubtedly, the proposed centre with its management team will find any consultation and advice provided by other BCRCs most helpful and I hope that this letter will act a start for a useful relationship.
It is envisaged that following this introductory letter some arrangement will be made for the directors of the BCRC s in China, Russian Federation, Egypt and Indonesia to attend a meeting, here in Tehran, for further examination of the relationship between the proposed centre and other BCRCs.
We have been organising national workshops and symposium on Basel Convention since the decision by the 6th COP with the view of determining the inadequacies/capabilities of the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC.
Later this year, we are planning a regional symposium with the participation of the proposed countries and I hereby announce that any suggestion would be welcome to obtain the best output.
I thank you in advance and I look forward to receiving your reply.
Yours sincerely
Dr Majid Bahmani
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 2004 12:53:08 -0400From: [email protected] View Contact Details To: "massoud boldaji" <[email protected]>Subject: Re: Trip to IR IRAN
> Dear Prof. El Aref,> It was a pleasure speaking with you over the phone earlier today. As per our conversation, since you are not able to make the trip to IR Iran and visit our facilities in the near future but recommended for us to visit your facilities in order to get a better understanding of the operational activities at your BCRC, please send me an e-mail and possible dates which are good for our visit.Furthermore, following please find the letter that we have sent to other regional BCRCs and received favorable response Following our meeting during the Open-Ended Working Group 3 (OEWG3) in Geneva and your verbal support for establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (BCRC) in Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R. Iran), I am pleased to inform you that we have successfully completed our Feasibility Study and presently are in the process of submitting it to the office of Secretariat of the Basel Convention along with other supporting documents for translation, distribution and review prior to COP7. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your support and reiterate our seriousness about establishing our BCRC in order to help ourselves and the neighboring countries with environmentally sound management of the wastes generated through focused workshops, various trainings and sharing of information and expertise and also to help controlling the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes.Please contact me with any comments and/or questions you may have.Please verify your support by confirming receipt of this e-mail. Thank you again for your help, consideration and support. I am looking forward to hear from you and to meet you in Egypt in the near future. Please confirm receipt of this e-mail. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Best Regards,
Dr. Massoud Boldaji> Executive Director of Operations> IR Iran's BCRC Project
Thank you a lot for your phone call and the present e.mail. I wish you all success and looking forward for the establishment of The BCRC of I.R.Iran in the near future. You are wellcome to Cairo any time during the next month, but I think we need, as soon as possible. an official letter from your institute or your government including your CV and copy of your passport in order to finalize the necessary arrengements in a proper time before your arrival, you can use the fax of Cairo BCRC. looking for your reply Best regards
ElArefCairo BCRC
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Russian BCRC
Ms. Natalia Karpova Dr Majid Bahmani,Head of Section Senior technical advisor,Ministry of Natural Resources) Department of Environment,D-242, GSP-5, B.Gruzinskaya Str. 4/6 No.187 Ostad Nejatollahi Ave,123995 Moscow Tehran,Russian Federation Islamic Republic of Iran,Tel (7 095) 254 8601 Tel(98 21) 890 3720Fax (7 095) 254 8283 Tele Fax(98 21) 826 [email protected][email protected]
It is hereby conveyed to you that following a decision by the government of Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.Iran) to establish a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (B.C.R.C.) for hazardous waste management, a proposal to host the center for the West and Central Asia was made by I.R.Iran to the Secretariat of the Basel convention and this proposal was taken note of at the 6th COP (document UNEP/CHW.6/CRP.5 in Annex I).
In the proposal (the Basel document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/11) the following countries have been included in the list of potential countries that could be considered for cooperation and coordination of activities of the center:
Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, I.R. Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan.
The proposed center is envisaged to link the hazardous waste management activities of the countries in the West and Central Asia and will carry out specific needs assessment studies of the hazardous waste management issues at national and regional levels. Following the needs assessment, training courses and workshops on the most important issues will be provided. Regional and international experts will present these training courses.
The proposal to the Secretariat was accompanied by a feasibility study (document UNEP/CHW.6/INF/9) highlighting the capabilities and inadequacies of the regional countries for the management of hazardous wastes.
The COP’s decision (Annex I) was to welcome the proposal by the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC and invited the government of the I.R.Iran to develop further and complete the feasibility study in consultation with the countries in the region and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation. Additionally the COP invited the government of I.R.Iran to undertake activities to ascertain the needs of the region and the capacity of the proposed centre to address such needs and to submit, in consultation with the Secretariat, a final proposal for the establishment of the centre to the 7th COP.
Sir/Madam, I am a senior technical advisor to the Department of Environment, the Iranian focal point to the Basel convention, and I am organising the activities leading to the fulfillment of the required tasks as set by the COP’s decision.I would like to draw your attention to several important points regarding the decision by the I.R.Iran to propose to host a BCRC.
1) The I.R.Iran is strategically located between the Central Asian Republics and the Persian Gulf countries. It has a total of about 5440 Km of borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. In the south, in the Persian Gulf region, Iran has 2,440 km of coastline and in the north, around the Caspian Sea; it has 740 Km of coastline. It is difficult to control the trans boundary movement of hazardous and other wastes with such long borders, with so many countries and often with inadequate border control.
2) The landlocked Central Asian and the Caucasian republics increasingly utilise the I.R.Iran as the best transit route for access to the open seas at the Persian Gulf.
3) The need for the management of its domestic hazardous wastes and lack of existing regional cooperation for control over the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes has culminated in the proposal by the I.R.Iran to the Basel Convention for the establishment of a BCRC for the West and Central Asia in Tehran.
4) The neighbouring regional centers have been established on the basis of common language but hazardous wastes problems need trans lingual cooperation between regional countries. Countries such as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan do not share common language with their neighbouring countries nevertheless they share the same problems, with their neighbouring countries, in the trans boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
In the COP's decision document (Annex I) two major tasks have been requested from the I.R.Iran, before further consideration of the proposal at the 7th COP namely:
1) Completion of the feasibility study submitted by the I.R.Iran with the assistance of the regional countries and the BCRCs in China, Egypt, Indonesia and the Russian Federation and more importantly to define the relationship between the proposed centre and the aforementioned BCRCs
2) Carrying out specific needs assessment in the region to gather information about the inadequacies/capabilities of the regional countries in hazardous waste management issues.
With regards to the first task I am hoping to rely on the cooperation of the aforementioned BCRCs to assist the I.R.Iran in the pursuit of its goal.
I would like to point out that the word relationship as mentioned in the first task, I think, means that for the I.R.Iran to open a dialogue, with aforementioned BCRCs, in search of an optimum working relationship with regards to cooperation in all activities of the BCRCs. I may add further that, I think, the following subjects are of high priority in the agenda for discussion between the proposed BCRC and aforementioned BCRCs:
1) Membership: some of the countries mentioned in the list of potential countries for the proposed centre are already members of existing BCRCs. I suggest that a country can become a member of more than a BCRC and this arises from the Geo-Environmental location of that country. For example some of the Caucasian and the Central Asian republics are members of the BCRC in Russia nevertheless they share some environmental interests as the I.R.Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan e.g. the environmental issues of the Caspian Sea, the environmental issues with regards to construction of oil pipline across the Central Asian and the Caucasian republics.
Similarly, some of the countries in the Arabian Peninsula are already members of the BCRC in Egypt nevertheless problems with regards to the environmental issues of the Persian Gulf has immediate impact on the littoral states and therefore cooperation amongst these countries is vital.
I may add further, that trans boundary movement of the hazardous wastes and border control in the proposed region is currently not coordinated and regulation of these activities is vital for the sustainable development of the region.
2) Projects: It is possible that some of the projects and training courses that will be organised by the proposed BCRC may parallel those that have been organised by other BCRCs. To avoid such parallelism closer cooperation and consultation amongst BCRCs will be necessary. Needless to say that more practical training courses and projects such as data gathering and implementation of E.S.M. policies in regional countries in spite of probable parallelism would still be highly beneficial.
3) Financial matters: It is an important tenet of the Basel Convention on the BCRCs that they need to be self-sufficient financially. Lack of experience in fund raising activities for running training courses and projects will be a difficulty for the proposed BCRC. I think experience gained by other BCRCs in techniques and policies for self-sufficiency will be highly useful to the proposed centre and I therefore welcome any consultation and advice in this matter.
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Undoubtedly, the proposed centre with its management team will find any consultation and advice provided by other BCRCs most helpful and I hope that this letter will act a start for a useful relationship.
It is envisaged that following this introductory letter some arrangement will be made for the directors of the BCRC s in China, Russian Federation, Egypt and Indonesia to attend a meeting, here in Tehran, for further examination of the relationship between the proposed centre and other BCRCs.
We have been organising national workshops and symposium on Basel Convention since the decision by the 6th COP with the view of determining the inadequacies/capabilities of the I.R.Iran to establish a BCRC.
Later this year, we are planning a regional symposium with the participation of the proposed countries and I hereby announce that any suggestion would be welcome to obtain the best output.
I thank you in advance and I look forward to receiving your reply.
Yours sincerely
Dr Majid Bahmani
ЦЕНТР МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ ПРОЕКТОВCENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
105043, Москва, ул. Первомайская 58б, ЦМПТел.: (095) 165-05-62, 165-08-90Факс: (095)165-08-90Эл. Почта: [email protected]
58b, ul. Pervomaiskaya, 105043, Moscow, Russia Tel: (095) 165-05-62, 165-08-90Fax: (095) 165-08-90E-mail: [email protected]
№_____________от "_____"_________ _______2004 г.
Dr. Majid BAHMANI
Senior Technical Advisor,Department of Environmentof Islamic Republic of Iran
cc: BCRCs in China, Egypt and Indonesia, SBC, MNR of Russia
Subject: Proposal on Establishment of a BCRC in Iran
Dear Dr. Bahmani,
We would like to bring to your notice that Centre for International Projects that functions as the Basel Convention Regional Centre in the Russian Federation (BCRC-RF) received from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation (MNR of Russia) a copy of your letter to Ms. Natalia Karpova devoted to the idea of establishing in Iran of a BCRC for West and Central Asia. In this regard we would like to enlighten you on our vision of the issue elaborated in close consultation with Ms. Karpova.
First of all we consider the issues you touched upon in your letter to be quite interesting and, in general, contributing to fulfillment of Strategic Plan of Implementation of the Basel Convention. The problems you mentioned in your letter (regulation of transboundary movement of waste, border control, assessment of specific
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needs etc.) are very acute not only in the countries of your region but on the global scale as well. Nevertheless there are some points that require additional consideration and general discussion with attraction of representatives of BCRCs in China, Egypt and Indonesia. Therefore, we support the idea expressed in your letter on the arrangement of a consultative meeting in Tehran in order to exchange the opinions and further examine possible relationship between the existing BCRCs. As we understand, the financial matters related to organization of such a meeting could be settled.
Before that we can offer you some of our ideas in order to help you understand our vision of the problem:
Taking into account that BCRCs lack stable and sufficient funding for carrying out of their functions we think it is more reasonable to strengthen the existing network of regional centres;
In our opinion a BCRC cannot serve as an organizer of the process in the field of regulation of the problems of border control and customs procedures related to transboundary movement of waste as such function is not a part of regional centres’ main responsibilities (provision of training, organization of technology transfer, support of information exchange);
Supposedly, it would be preferable not to establish a new BCRC and thus to increase the existing financial pressure but to strengthen the coordination of activities between the existing BCRCs that cover the countries of the region and besides to involve in the process the countries that express their own initiatives (e.g. Iran) more actively;
We understand the idea of integration of Parties in the framework of one BCRC on the basis of common problems and not only by the principle of common language. However, our experience clearly shows that language factor has a great influence on the functioning of a regional centre; the processes of training, provision and exchange of information, strengthening and unification of legislation etc. can be carried out most effectively and rapidly in the countries united by common language of communication (e.g. CIS countries where Russian is the language of interstate communication).
In order to be more prepared for active participation in further mutual consideration of your proposal we would also like to know the position of other BCRCs involved in the discussion. In this regard we would like to request you to provide us with any materials or ideas on this topic that you received from our colleagues representing BCRCs in China, Indonesia and Egypt.
Faithfully yours and best regards,
Sergey Tikhonov,
DirectorCentre for International Projects/BCRC-RF
From: "Sergei Tikhonov" <[email protected]> View Contact Details To: "'massoud boldaji'" <[email protected]>Subject: Trip to IR IRANDate: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 13:53:00 +0400
I have just receipt your e-mail. Thanks for your condolences for the tragedy connected with terrorism attack at the Russian school.
It was a pleasure speaking with you over the phone earlier today. Please accept my condolences for the tragedy that has happened at the Russian school earlier this week.
As per our conversation, please e-mail your completed form and two possible dates for your trip to IR Iran. In addition, would you please e-mail me the name, title, complete address, phone, fax and e-mail address of the official person that will accompany you for this visit so that we can send an official invitation letter directly to that person also.
Furthermore, following please find the letter that we have sent to other regional BCRCs and received favorable response:
Following our meeting during the Open-Ended Working Group 3 (OEWG3) in Geneva and your verbal support for establishment of a Basel Convention Regional Training and Technology Transfer Center (BCRC) in Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R. Iran), I am pleased to inform you that we have successfully completed our Feasibility Study and presently are in the process of submitting it to the office of Secretariat of the Basel Convention along with other supporting documents for translation, distribution and review prior to COP7.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your support and reiterate our seriousness about establishing our BCRC in order to help ourselves and the neighboring countries with environmentally sound management of the wastes generated through focused workshops, various trainings and sharing of information and expertise and also to help controlling the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
Please contact me with any comments and/or questions you may have. Please verify your support by confirming receipt of this e-mail. Thank you again for your help, consideration and support.
I am looking forward to hear from you and to meet you in Iran in the near future. Please confirm receipt of this e-mail. Thank you again.
Best Regards,
Dr. Massoud Boldaji
Executive Director of Operations
IR Iran's BCRC Project
Dear Prof. EL Aref,
Dear Dr Tikhonov,
As you are aware the Iranian government has proposed to the Basel Convention for the establishment of a BCRC. During the last OEWG our delegates have had meetings with you to search for avenues of cooperation
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with the BCRC in Russia. It is highly valued by the Department of Environment of Islamic Republic of Iran (I.R.Iran) as the focal point to the Basel Convention to establish contacts with the existing BCRCs in order to seek their assistance, experience and expertise in matters related to the running of a BCRC. In this regard you are invited to visit I.R.Iran to discuss its capabilities to host the proposed BCRC and to provide your expert knowledge on matters related to the running of a BCRC. It is recommended that this visit to take place before September/2004 and therefore we will be grateful if you could provide us with a date suitable for this visit.
I thank you in advance and look forward to receiving your reply.
Dr Yousef HojjatDeputy HeadDepartment of Environment
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APPENDIX F: Hazardous waste generation data collected from different ministries in the I.R.Iran
Table (F1): Annual reporting, part IITotal Amount of Generation of hazardous wastes and other wastes in 2001-2003
TOTAL amount of hazardous wastes and other wastes generated ( metric tonnes)2004 2003 2002
447125 381821 306317 Total amount of hazardous wastes under Art . 1 (1) a (Annex I: Y1-Y45) generated
- - - Total amount of hazardous wastes under Art . 1 (1) b generated
14500000 13950000 13300000 Total amount of the other wastes generated (Annex II : Y46-Y47)
Remarks:There are some authorized recovery plants for hazardous wastes of the country within the national jurisdiction of Iran. Used oil re-refining plants and plastic recycling are among these kinds of facilities. In Iran There is no facility for municipal waste disposal such as incinerator, hence the last row numbers of the above table concern just Y46.
Table (F2) Hazardous, municipal and healthcare management waste generation data for the year 2004Source of data: Interior Ministry and Ministry of industry
Table (F3) Amount of pesticides used in the I.R.Iran
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Source: Ministry of agricultureAmount
000/011/19 kg/litre Total amount of pestides formulated 1754/874/23 kg/litre Total amount of pesticides distributed to the
provinces2
700/538/8 kg Total import of pesticides concentrates and associated chemicals
3
423/707/14 kg/litre Total amount of stocked pesticides 4567/564/36 numbers Number of insecticides tablet 5
Report on ship dismantling in I.R.IranSource: Office of Ports and Shipping
I.R.Iran is a member of the Marple Convention for prevention of contamination of seas and laws based on the first annex of this convention has been passed and are legally binding at moment.In the international affairs I.R.Iran follows the London Convention but there are also some national regulations with regards to petroleum products.There has only been one case of dismantling an oceasnliner in 1999.
Table (F4) Amount of chemicals used in water treatment plants in I.R.IranSource: Ministry of Energy for the year 2003
Total28 Number of provinces 1
3657277 Kg Amount of used Chlorine(gas) 21603107 Kg Amount of used Chlorate(powder) 31104671 Kg Amount of used Hydrated lime 42219533 Kg Amount of used Aluminium sulphate 55693705 Kg Amount of used Ferric Chloride 6
7018 Kg Amount of used Polyelectrolyte 77854 Number of liquid chlorine injection
equipments8
1213 Number of ligas chlorine injection equipments
9
266 Number of water treatment plants 1050 Number of sewage treatment plants 1133 Number of Sewage analysis labs 12292 Number of Water analysis labs 13
5/391 million m3 Volume of sewge collected 141/165 million m3 Volume of sewage treated 15
59
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Table (F5) Statistics of hospitals in the I.R.Iran up to the year 2004Source: Ministry of health and medical Education
The following points can be drawn from the statistics by the Ministry of health and medical education:
1) 35 new hospitals came in to operation from the year 2000 to 20042) the 733 hospitals across the country produce about 400 tonnes of waste daily.3) 34% of the hospitals lack adequate waste disposal facilities.4) 40.3% of the hospitals have inhouse incinerators.5) Out of a total of 296 incinerators in hospitals more than 70% do not work properly and proximity to
residential areas also is another reason for inefficient use of incinerators in hospitals.6) Hospitals near seas or rivers dump the waste into water
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Table (F8) Inhouse Disposal facilities in hospitals
Number of adequate waste disposal
facilitiesها
Number of incinerators
Generation of hospitals wastes
(tones/day)
Total number of hospitals
386 296 400 733
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APPENDIX G: Summary of activities and business plan by the proposed BCRC in Iran for the period 2005-2010
WORK PROGRAMME
TIME FRAME
OUTCOME PARTNERS BUDGETS IN US $
RELATION TO
STRATEGIC PLAN
General backstopping
2005 Core staff, office space, basic office equipment and general
purpose communication equipment
Host government
50,000 Fields (f)
Organizing regional workshop on Basel
convention
2005 Information exchange, raising awareness and familiarisation with
the text of the convention
SBC, regional countries
30,000 in kind
Fields (a), (f), (g), (I)
Hazardous waste characterization under the Basel
Convention
2006 Identification of major regional hazardous waste problems and
preparation of action plans
SBC, regional countries,
ROPME, CEP
30,000 Fields (a), (f), (g), (i)
Regional information
exchange network
2006 Setting up the hardware and software for the network and designing a web page on the
internet for easy access by the regional countries.
regional countries,
ROPME, CEP
5,000 Fields (a), (f), (g), (i)
Consultations with National focal points
of the member countries
2007 Communications and ad-hoc meeting
Host government
20,000 Fields (a), (b), (e)
Regional workshop on strategic action
plan for the implementation of
the Basel Convention
2007 Training manual for hazardous waste management, legislations
and policies
SBC, regional countries
40,000 Fields (a), (b), (e)
Existing hazardous waste legislation
2008 Compilation, printing and distributing existing national and
international legislations on hazardous waste management in
the
regional countries
5,000 Field (a)
Capacity building of legislations
2008 Workshop on model legislations and the need for improvement of
national legislations
SBC, regional countries
30,000 Fields (a), (b), (e)
Inventory of hazardous waste generation in the member states
2009 Collection of hazardous waste generation data in the member
states
SBC, regional countries
40,000 Field (e)
Strategic action plan on custome and
enforcement officers
2010 Training manual produced from the experiences of the member states and international experts
