14/30. Environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes

The Governing Council,

Recalling the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Meeting of Senior Government Officials expert in Environmental Law, held at Montevideo from 28 October to 6 November 1981, which considered the transport, handling and disposal of toxic and hazardous wastes as a priority matter and foresaw, at the world level, the preparation of guidelines, principles or conventions as appropriate,

Furthers recalling its decision 10/24 of 31 May 1982, pursuant to which an Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on the Environmental sound management of Hazardous Wastes

Having considered the Cairo Guidelines and Principles for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes, was established to consider guidelines or principles regarding the environmentally sound transport, handling (including storage) and disposal of toxic and dangerous wastes.

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Expresses its appreciation for the completion of the Cairo guidelines and Principles for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes;

Notes with satisfaction that the Cairo Guidelines and Principles have been distributed to all Governments for information;

Approves the Cairo Guidelines and principles for the Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous Wastes, as well as the recommendations adopted at the third session of the Ad Hoc Working Group, held at Cairo from 4 to 9 December 1985, and contained in the report of the Working Group on the work of that session; 60/,

Calls upon Governments and international organizations concerned to use the Cairo Guidelines and Principles in the process of developing appropriate bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements and national legislation for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes;

Notes with satisfaction the active co-operation between the Ad Hoc Working Group and other United Nations organizations and bodies, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and other international organizations outside the United |Nations system, as well as non-governmental organizations;

Welcomes the important work undertaken by the above-mentioned organizations in relations to the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, including the appropriate control of trans-frontier movements of such wastes;

Stresses the need to extend international measures to guarantee the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and, in particular, the control of trans-frontier movements of such wastes;

Authorizes the Executive director to organize a small series of regional workshops to discuss further co-operations between developed and developing countries in implementing the Cairo Guidelines and Principles, with special emphasis on the technical aspects of hazardous wastes management;

Also authorizes the Executive Director to convene in consultation with Governments, within available resources, a wording group of legal and technical experts with a mandate to prepare a global convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, drawing on the conclusions of the Ad Hoc Working Group and the relevant work of national, regional and international bodies;

Requests the Executive Director to seek additional funding from countries in a position to provide it in support of the activities referred to above;

Welcomes the offer by the Government of the Hungarian People’s Republic to host, in connection with the World Conference on Hazardous Wastes to be held at Budapest from 25 to 31 October 1987, an organizational meeting of the working group of legal and technical experts, referred in paragraph 9 above, to elaborate further its terms of reference and to decide its work programme and schedule in preparation for its first substantive meeting;

Request the Executive director to convene in early 1989 a diplomatic conference for the purpose of adopting and signing a global convention of the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes;

Welcomes the offer of the Government of Switzerland to host a diplomatic conference in order to adopt and sign the global convention;

Further stresses the need for close collaboration among international organization and institutions involved in the management of hazardous wastes in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.

14th meeting

17 June 1987