There are several multilateral environmental agreements that seeks to guide the management of chemicals and other hazardous waste. These MEAs include the following:

• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention)

What is the issue?
With the development of global trade and international transport, risks related to the transboundary movement and use of hazardous wastes and substances have sparked increasing fears; especially in developing countries that lack the proper technical capacity and infrastructure to guarantee the proper management and disposal under safe conditions. This was exacerbated by the fact that it was more cost effective for developed countries to dispose of their hazardous waste by shipping it to developing countries and to Eastern Europe.

How is it being addressed?
The Convention is a global environmental treaty that strictly regulates the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and imposes obligations on Parties to ensure that such waste are managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. The Convention aims to protect human health and the environment against the deadly consequences of production, management, transboundary movement and disposal of hazardous wastes.

The driving philosophy of the text is that movement of hazardous waste is only justified in exceptional cases. Signatory Parties also commit to reduce hazardous waste production and carry out disposal as close as possible to the source of generation.

Trinidad and Tobago acceded to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal on February 18, 1994. The Convention is a global environmental treaty that strictly regulates the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and imposes obligations on Parties to ensure that such waste are managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

The provisions of the Convention centre on the following principal aims:

the reduction of hazardous waste generation and the promotion of environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, wherever the place of disposal;
the restriction of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes except where it is perceived to be in accordance with the principles of environmentally sound management; and
a regulatory system applying to cases where transboundary movements are permissible.

The Convention also provides for the establishment of regional or sub-regional and coordinating centres to cater to the specific needs of different regions and sub regions as it relates to training and technology transfer regarding the management of hazardous and other wastes and the minimization of their generation. Fourteen such centres have been established. To this end, the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago hosts the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean (BCRC-Caribbean).

The Basel Convention Ban Amendment is a decision which prohibits the transboundary movements from Parties and other States which are members of the European Union, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Liechtenstein to all other countries. The Ban Amendment, though adopted in 1994 only entered into force in 2009 as it required ratification of three-fourths of those Parties that were Parties at the time of its adoption for its entry into force.

What needs to be done locally?
The Convention imposes a certain number of general obligations. Parties shall:

• Prohibit the export or import of hazardous and other wastes in or out of a State which is not Party to the Convention;
• Prohibit the export of hazardous wastes covered by the Convention if the Party State of import does not consent in writing to the specific import;
• State clearly, to the countries concerned, the effects of transboundary movements on human health;
• Assess health and environmental consequences for any planned movements of hazardous waste;
• Limit the transboundary movement of waste involving no transport or disposal hazards; and
• Ensure proper packaging, labelling, standardisation of transport conditions, and traceability of authorised movements.

For further information please visit: www.basel.int

• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)             

What is the issue?
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was adopted in 2001 in response to the urgent need for global action to protect human health and the environment from POPs.

POPs are chemicals that are highly toxic, persistent, bioaccumulate (build up within the tissues of organisms) and move long distances in the environment. They pose a tremendous threat globally due to the long persistence of these chemicals in the environment and their ability to be transported through the biosphere (the part of the earth’s crust, waters, and atmosphere that supports life), to regions where they had never been used before, and because of their deleterious effects on organisms.

How is it being addressed?
The Convention sets out control measures covering the production, import, export, disposal and use of POPs. Parties to the Convention are required to promote the best available technologies and practices for replacing existing POPs while preventing the development of new ones.

The control measures apply to the initial list of twelve (12) chemicals; in addition to the sixteen (16) newly added chemicals as of 2019. Most of these chemicals are subject to an immediate ban. The Convention also seeks the continuous minimization and, where feasible, ultimate elimination of other chemicals including the releases of unintentionally produced POPs such as dioxins and furans. Stockpiles must be managed and disposed of in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound manner.

Trinidad and Tobago acceded to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) on December 15, 2002. The implementation of the Convention locally is guided by a National Implementation Plan (NIP). In fulfilment of its obligations under this Convention, Trinidad and Tobago has submitted its 2013 NIP and an Updated NIP in September 2019 to the Secretariat of the Convention.

What needs to be done locally?
Each Convention Member must:

• Designate a National Focal Point;
• Develop, implement and update a National Implementation Plan (NIP) describing how they will meet the obligations set by the Convention;
• Promote and facilitate a wide range of public information, awareness and education measures for policy makers and all stakeholders;
• Encourage and, as resources permit, undertake research, development, monitoring and cooperation on all aspects of POPs and their alternatives;
• Report to the Conference of the Parties (COP) on measures taken by Party to implement the Convention, including the effectiveness of the measures taken and on the data concerning trade in intentionally produced POPs.

For further information please visit: www.pops.int

• Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in
  International Trade

What is the issue?
The dramatic growth in chemical production and trade during the past four decades has elevated concerns about the potential risks posed by hazardous chemicals and pesticides. Countries lacking adequate infrastructure to monitor the import and use of these chemicals were particularly vulnerable.

How is it being addressed?
The Rotterdam Convention, formally adopted on September 10, 1998, is built on the voluntary Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure and creates legally binding obligations for its implementation. The Convention covers pesticides, including severely hazardous pesticide formulations and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted for health or environmental reasons by Parties.

The aim of this Convention is to promote shared responsibility and cooperative efforts among Parties in the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals in order to protect human health and the environment from potential harm. Additionally, another objective is to contribute to the environmentally sound use of those hazardous chemicals, by facilitating information exchange about their characteristics, by providing for a national decision-making process on their import and export and by disseminating these decisions to Parties. The Convention also establishes the principle that export of a chemical covered by the Convention can only take place with the prior approval or PIC from the importing country. This was formulated to protect human health and the environment from potential harm.

As of November 2019, a total of 52 chemicals were subject to the PIC procedure: 35 pesticides (including 3 severely hazardous pesticide formulations), 16 industrial chemicals and 1 in both the pesticide and the industrial chemical categories. Trinidad and Tobago agreed to sign onto the Rotterdam in October 1, 2009.

What needs to be done locally?

Parties to the Convention, including Trinidad and Tobago should promote information exchange by:

• Appointing a Designated National Authority;
• Informing other Parties of a national ban or severe restriction of a chemical;
• Informing an importing Party of plans to export a chemical that is banned or severely restricted for use within its territory, that such export will take place, before the first shipment and annually thereafter;
• Indicating to other Parties that problems are being experienced by a severely hazardous pesticide formulation under conditions of use in its territory, if it is a developing country or a country in transition;
• Ensuring up-to-date safety data sheet is sent to the importer when exporting chemicals that are to be used for occupational purposes; and
• Maintaining labelling requirements for exports of chemicals included in the PIC procedure, as well as for other chemicals that are banned or severely restricted in the exporting country.

For further information please visit: www.pic.int

• Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management

What is the issue?
The consumption of chemicals by all industries and modern society’s reliance on chemicals for virtually all manufacturing processes make chemicals production one of the major and most globalized sectors of the world economy. Acknowledgement of the essential economic role of chemicals and their contribution to improved living standards needs to be balanced with recognition of potential costs. These include the chemical industry’s heavy use of water and energy and the potential adverse impacts of chemicals on the environment and human health. The diversity and potential severity of such impacts makes sound chemicals management a key cross-cutting issue for sustainable development.ch

How is it being addressed?
The Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) is a policy framework to promote chemical safety around the world. The aim of SAICM is to achieve the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle so that, by the year 2020, chemicals are produced and used in ways that minimize significant adverse impacts on human health and the environment.

The objectives of the SAICM are:

• expanding and accelerating international assessment of chemical risks
• harmonization of classification of chemicals
• prevention of illegal traffic in toxic and dangerous products
• information exchange on toxic chemicals and chemical risks
• establishment of risk reduction programmes
• strengthening of national capabilities and capacities for managing chemicals

SAICM comprises the Dubai Declaration on International Chemicals Management, expressing high-level political commitment to SAICM, and an Overarching Policy Strategy which sets out its scope, needs, objectives, financial considerations underlying principles and approaches and implementation and review arrangements.

The Declaration and Strategy are accompanied by a Global Plan of Action that serves as a working tool and guidance document to support implementation of SAICM and other relevant international instruments and initiatives. Activities in the plan are to be implemented, as appropriate, by stakeholders, according to their applicability.

The Overall Orientation and Guidance is a voluntary tool that sets out action points and provides direction and identifies approaches for all SAICM stakeholders to assist in the prioritization of SAICM implementation efforts towards 2020. This includes some concrete elements required at the national level to achieve sound chemicals management to support the implementation of the Overarching Policy Strategy. Six (6) core activity areas are identified for implementing the objectives set out in the Strategy, while eleven (11) basic elements have been recognized as critical at the national and regional levels to the attainment of sound chemicals and waste management.
SAICM’s Quick Start Programme (QSP) is a funding mechanism developed to support initial enabling activities in developing countries, least developed countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and countries with economies in transition. The QSP consists of a trust fund, as well as bilateral, multilateral and other forms of cooperation.

Beyond 2020, it is anticipated that the framework of the successor instrument would incorporate some of the existing governance and institutional structures, alongside an improved enabling system to ensure the continuation of the important work of the sound management of chemicals and waste.

For further information please visit: www.saicm.org