Basel Convention

In Article 4 on "Expected Measures and Actions" of the Convention, each party is expected to (a) reduce to a minimum, the generation of hazardous wastes and other wastes; (b) ensure that adequate disposal facilities for ESM of hazardous wastes and other wastes are available; (c) ensure that personnel involved in hazardous waste management take pollution control measures to minimize the adverse consequences of these to human health and the environment; (d) reduce to a minimum, the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes; (e) not allow the export of hazardous wastes to a State or group of States that are parties, particularly developing countries, which have prohibited all imports or if the wastes will not be managed in an environmentally sound manner; (f) require information clearly stating the effects on human health and the environment about a proposed transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes according to Annex V-A of the Convention; (g) prevent the import of hazardous wastes and other wastes if these will not be managed in an environmentally sound manner; (h) cooperate in activities with other Parties and organizations in the dissemination of information on the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, in order to improve the ESM of such wastes and prevent illegal traffic of the same; the Party states are responsible for enacting national laws to prevent and punish illegal traffic of hazardous wastes.

Under Article 6, the Philippines through the DENR-EMB, the competent authority, shall notify or shall require the exporter to notify the competent authority of the importing state of any proposed transboundary movement of hazardous or other wastes.

Under Article 15. parties are required to submit a report on the previous calendar year containing information on transboundary movement of hazardous wastes in their area, measures adopted by parties in the implementationof the convention, activities realted to bilateral / multilateral agreements and arrangements and other pertinent information.

The Philippines is currently engaged in a Bilateral agreement with the United States of America reagrding the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes from the Philippines to United States.

The Philippines submitted its 2017 National Report to the Basel Convention on 27 December 2018. The report contained pertinent national strategies and policies, legislation, regulations and guidelines issued to realize the reduction or elimination of the generation of hazardous waste and other wastes and the reduction of the amount of hazardous wastes and other wastes subject to transboundary movement.

At the Basel Convention Conference of Parties (COP) 13 held in 2017, marine litter was included in the program of work of the Open-ended Working Group and a new Partnership Program on Household Waste was established as the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment came to an end.

The EMB continues to issue importation clearances for recyclable materials containing hazardous substances and export clearance for hazardous wastes for final recovery and disposal as specified in DENR Department Administrative Order (DAO) 1994-28, on Interim Guidelines for the Importation of Recyclable Materials Containing Hazardous Substances and DAO 2013-22 on Revised Procedures and Standards for the Management of Hazardous Wastes.

The amendment of relevant existing laws and regulation on hazardous wastes and development of "Guidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment" is currently ongoing. The guidelines will provide a compliance framework for producers, manufacturers, consumers, distributors, retailers, and treatment facilities.

- Workshop of the Asian Network for Prevention of Illegal Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes, 6-8 November 2018; Akita, Japan - Ms. Florence Gonzales (EMB NCR), Ms. Lily Amor Castro (EMB Reg. 3)
- 8th International E-Waste Management Network (IEMN) Workshop, 24-29 September 2018; Manila, Philippines - hosted by DENR-EMB
- 13th Meeting of the Committee Administering the Mechanism for Promoting Implementation and Compliance of the Basel Convention (ICC-13), 8-10 September 2018; Geneva,
Switzerland - Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez (EMB)
- Workshop on the Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of E-waste for the Asia and Pacific Region and Forum on their Transboundary Movements under the Basel Convention, 21-24 January 2018; Beijing, China - Engr. Maria Leonie Lynn H. Ruiz (EMB), Ms. Marie Junn A. Cuasing (EMB Reg. 4A)
- Workshop of the Asian Network for Prevention of Illegal Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste, 28-30 November 2017; Hanoi, Vietnam - Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez (EMB)
- 7th International E-waste Management Network (IEMN) Workshop, 2-7 October 2017; Jakarta, Indonesia - Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez (EMB)
- Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BC COP-13, RC COP-8, SC COP-8), 24 April-5 May 2017; Geneva, Switzerland - Asst. Sec. Juan Miguel T. Cuna (DENR), Asst. Dir. Jacqueline A. Caancan, Mr. Renato T. Cruz and Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez (EMB) 
- Asia Pacific Preparatory Meeting of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel (13), Rotterdam (8), and Stockholm (8) Conventions, 6-10 March 2017; Bangkok, Thailand - Mr. Renato T. Cruz and Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez (EMB) 
- Study Tour in Japan as part of the "Project Establishing Mercury Waste Treatment and the Processing Scheme in the Philippines, 30 January - 3 February 2017; Hokkaido, Japan - Asst. Dir. Jacqueline A. Caancan, Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez, Engr. Maria Leonie Lynn H. Ruiz (EMB) 
- Project Meeting on Environmentally Sound Management of Mercury Waste, 15-16 November 2016; Bangkok, Thailand - Engr. Maria Leonie Lynn H. Ruiz (EMB) 
- 6th International E-waste Management Network (IEMN) Workshop, 4-7 October 2016; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez (EMB) 
- Workshop 2016 of the Asian Network for Prevention of Illegal Transbound- ary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Small Group Brainstorming Meeting on the Implementation of Takeback Procedures in Asia, 5-8 September 2016; Semarang, Indonesia - Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez and Engr. Santini L. Quiocson (EMB)
- 10th Meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (OEWG-10) and 12th Meeting of the Committee Administering the Mechanism for Promoting the Implementation and Compliance of the Basel Convention (ICC-12), 30 May to 2 June and 4-6 June 2016; Nairobi, Kenya - Mr. Geri-Geronimo R. Sanez (EMB)

The UNIDO-GEF project on the "Implementation of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Management Programs for Electric Cooperatives and Safe E-waste Management," commenced in November 2016 and will be completed by January 2022, aims to protect human health and the environment through sound management of PCBs in transformers and polybrominated diphenyl esters (PBDEs) in e-wastes.

Strategies / Policies for the reduction and / or elimination of the amount of hazardous wastes and other wastes generated include:
a. Implementation of programs / projects assisting industrial facilities in the environmental sound management of their wastes;
b. Promotion of Environmental Management Systems and Cleaner Production or Cleaner Technologies using waste minimization concepts; and
c. Implementation of projects / programs on insutrial waste management.
Strategies / Policies for the production of the amount of hazardous waste and other wastes subject to transboundary movement include:
a. Public awarness through the involvement of non-government organizations and small and medium enterprises that are very active as far as environmental issues are concerned;
b. Implementation of projects / programs on industrial waste management; and
c. Demonstration of the "Viability and Removal of Barriers that Impede Adoption and Successful Implementationof Available Non-CombustionTechnologies for Destroying Persistent Organic Pollutants", a UNIDO / GEF - supported project that will introduce and apply a non-combustion technologyto destroy significant obsolete polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) wastes. The project objective is to deploy a commercially availabel, proven non-combustion technology to address 1,500 tons of PCB - containing euipment and wastes in the Philippines.

Other Economic Instruments / Initiatives:
The PEPP, pursuant to DENR Administrative Order 2003-14, is a partnership program with industries, in cooperation with the other environment-related agencies, aimed to support industry self-regulation towards improved environmetal performance. The PEPP seeks to provide a package of inventives and reward mechanisms to industries in effective voluntary self-regulation and improved environmental performance.

- Review and/or revise the bilateral agreement of the Government of the Philippines with the Government of the USA
- Programs to encourage e-waste collection
- Development of "Guidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)" to be released as a DENR Administrative Order
- Cost-benefit analysis on banning of importation of second-hand electronic equipment
- Intensify monitoring of importation of recyclable materials
- Review of the current policy on accepting entry of recyclable materials into the country