TEHRAN – The first technical cooperation committee meeting of the Basel, Stockholm, and Rotterdam Conventions regional center was held in Tehran on Tuesday.

The meeting was held with the representatives of member and non-member countries to exchange information and technology in the management of hazardous waste and other wastes in the country, Mehdi Khadem Sameni, director of the Basel and Stockholm Regional Center in Tehran said.

“Comprehensive human-environment system” was discussed as one of the main projects proposed to the member countries in order to improve and upgrade the proper management of hazardous waste and other wastes, he stated.

It was decided that in case of countries agreement and the necessary infrastructure, technical meetings and specialized training courses to be held on related fields, he noted, IRNA reported.

Basel Convention

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste.

The convention is also intended to minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist LDCs in the environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.

The convention was opened for signature on 22 March 1989 and entered into force on 5 May 1992. As of October 2018, 186 states and the European Union are parties to the convention.

Stockholm Convention

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty, signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Key elements of the Convention include the requirement that developed countries provide new and additional financial resources and measures to eliminate production and use of intentionally produced POPs, eliminate unintentionally produced POPs where feasible, and manage and dispose of POPs wastes in an environmentally sound manner. Precaution is exercised throughout the Stockholm Convention, with specific references in the preamble, the objective, and the provision on identifying new POPs.

Rotterdam Convention

The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for certain hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in international trade provides Parties with a first line of defense against hazardous chemicals. It promotes international efforts to protect human health and the environment as well as enabling countries to decide if they want to import hazardous chemicals and pesticides listed in the Convention.

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