BASEL CONVENTION OEWG5: WEDNESDAY, 5 APRIL 2006

Delegates attending the fifth session of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention met in three contact groups dealing with technical matters, financing and ship dismantling. The contact group on technical issues made progress on the technical guidelines for persistent organic pollutants (POPs), agreeing on sections relating to health and safety that had been revised in a sub-group the previous day. The group also considered a draft decision for COP8 and held a preliminary discussion on a draft decision on “harmonization and movement documents” in relation to the movement of hazardous wastes.

The financing group held lengthy discussions on the budget, resource mobilization, sustainable financing, and synergies with other chemicals-related conventions. In particular, accessing GEF and other sources of financial support and how to deal with various reports on synergies between the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions occupied considerable attention.

The group on ship dismantling addressed: the environmentally sound management of ship dismantling; short and medium-term measures to protect the environment and health; and recommendations to the Secretariat.

All three groups are expected to reconvene on Thursday, 6 April, to conclude their work and forward any draft decisions to the plenary for adoption. However, expectations are that discussions could still take some time, particularly in the financing group.

OEWG Co-chair Daniel (center), Basel Executive Secretary Kuwabara-Yamamoto and Finance Group co-chair Osvaldo Alvarez-Perez