Canada waste dumping case brought before international body

MANILA, Philippines - Environmental groups Basel Action Network (BAN) and BAN Toxics (BT) have submitted the case of Canada’s waste dumping in the Philippines to the Basel Convention Secretariat over its supposed negligence of its treaty obligation.

In a letter, BAN and BT asserted that as party to the Basel Convention, Canada is bound to strictly control their export of waste.

“Canada, however, has maintained that its domestic laws do not control household waste, which indicates Canada’s failure to properly transpose their international treaty obligations into domestic law,” the letter read.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal – signed in 1989 and entered into force in 1992 – aims to reduce or prevent the movement of hazardous waste among nations, particularly from developed countries to less developed nations.

Under the treaty, illegal waste traffic must be prosecuted by parties, including Canada, as a criminal act and the illegally exported waste should be returned to its territory unless it is impracticable to do so.

According to Angelica Carballo-Pago of BT, it is “necessary for the Basel Secretariat to step in” to ensure that Canada and the Philippines are not skirting their obligations under the treaty.

“While the Secretariat cannot compel Canada to take back the waste, it can issue a cautionary statement and provide advice regarding future compliance to help countries implement the Convention,” Pago said.

About a month ago, wastes from Canada that were in 24 of 103 container vans were buried in a landfill in Tarlac. The move was met with widespread protests in the country.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources as well as some legislators and civil society groups have called on Canada to take back their supposedly illegal waste shipment which has been in the Philippines for more than a year now, but Canada has refused to take any responsibility over the export.

According to BAN executive director Jim Puckett, however, Canada has “admitted” its failure to properly implement the Convention.

“This means that they are not in compliance (with the treaty) and this has resulted in significant economic and environmental harm to the Philippines. We have asked them on several occasions to take responsibility required of them under the law and they have simply refused,” Puckett said.

“Cases like this require the Secretariat to act. If this gross non-compliance is simply swept under the carpet, the Basel Convention and indeed all international law becomes but a sad joke. We have faith that the Secretariat will do the right thing and trigger this case,” he added.