TNAG-2301-FCO40-3329-Basel-Convention-on-the-Control-of-Transboundary-Movements-o-1991 — Page 8

Our Ref: P370/1

N Alexander Esq

ESED

FCO

UNCLASSIFIED

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

OF PITCAIRN, HENDERSON, DUCIE AND OENO ISLANDS

C/o British High Commission

P.O. Box 1812

Wellington

New Zealand

28 August 1990

niec 031120

Dear Alexander,

BASLE CONVENTION ON THE CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTES AND THEIR DISPOSAL

1.

Thank you for your letter of 20 August asking if we would wish the Pitcairn Islands to be included in the United Kingdom's ratification of this Convention.

2. The disposal of hazardous wastes is currently as topical and contentious an issue in the Pacific region as it is elsewhere. Pitcairn has no hazardous waste disposal problems of its own to contend with, but we would like to be included in the UK ratification for the sake of any protection the Convention may offer against the activities of others. In order to minimise the burden on our Honorary Legal Adviser, we would ask that the extension be effected by means of an Order in Council rather than through local legislation.

Your

ere

cc: G D Harraway Esq

BCG Auckland

JR Setterfield

setteri

UNCLASSIFIED

จ

DOE

N Alexander Ess

ESED

FCO

Dear Nick

responsible for all contabantions, suals"

Government House

ANGUILLA

2819

12 September 1990

BASEL CONVENTION ON THE CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTES AND THEIR DISPOSAL

for

1. Thank you

your letter dated 16 August giving a background to this Convention.

2.

nature"

-

I note that there are no immediate financial obligations but Article 14 makes it clear that there may be such obligations in future, even if these may be of "a voluntary I also presume from para 2 of your letter that at some stage Anguilla would be required to make a voluntary contribution if the territory was included in the U.K. ratification. Our present financial position would not, I-am affarde allow us to enter into such an open ended commitment.

3.

Av

We would also, in view of our limited resources, have difficulty in complying with Article 4.4 As far as the legal

are concerned

Would be helpful if the UK' Waarenpattoncord bewey tended to Anguilla

measures

4.

It would be useful for us to know if HMG is prepared to help the Dependent Territories by assisting with the financial contributions and the "administrative and other measures" (Article 4:4) which would be necessary to implement and enforce the provisions of the Convention. A positive response on these matters would, I believe, persuade the Government to request that Anguilla be included in the U.K. ratification.

Yours sincering

Alan Have

A N Hoole

Deputy Governor

The Transboundary Movement of Wastes...

te: 1987

pe of waste: Municipal incinerator ash Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Bulkhandling

Pretext/Fate: Roadbed material

Status: Rejected

In 1987, the Panamanian government retracted its earlier approval for a scheme which would have dumped 250,000 tons of incinerator ash from Philadelphia in coastal wetlands in the province of Bocas del Toro.61

Suriname

Date: 1987

Type of Waste: PCB waste

Source: Europe

Exporter: Mine Tech International

Pretext/Fate: Dump

Status: Rejected

A

This former Netherlands colony in South America rejected plans by the Netherlands firm, Mine Tech International, to dump two million tons of PCB-contaminated wastes from Europe in Suriname in exchange for an undisclosed sum of money, in 1988. The rejection followed a heated debate in Suriname over the proposal.

Turks and Caicos

Date: 1986

Type of Waste: Sewage sludge

Source: U.S.A.

Exporter: Applied Recovery Technology Pretext/Fate: Dumping

Status: Unknown

The broker firm, Applied Recovery Technology of Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.A. has been attempting to ship US sewage sludges to numerous Western Hemisphere countries since 1986. ART has offered British officials approximately $33 million per year for use of 400 hectares of land for a dumping ground on West Caicos Island.

The Governments of Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras have

61 Greenpeace U.S.A., file documents.

62 Hilary French, "Toxics Wastes Crossing Borders," Watch, January/February 1988.

World

1