As environmental protection has gained importance in Lebanon’s legislative and institutional agendas, the State has adopted a number of laws, decrees, and ministerial decisions related to chemicals management. These legal instruments address the importation, production, and trade of the chemicals. Different Ministries are responsible for various chemicals. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for agricultural chemicals, the Ministry of Environment is responsible for industrial chemicals, the Ministry of Public Health is responsible for pesticide chemicals used by consumers, and the Ministry of Energy and Water is responsible for petroleum-derived chemicals.
In the case of pesticides (e.g., under the Stockholm Convention, Law 432 of 29 July 2002) and other wastes containing hazardous material (e.g., under the Basel Convention, Law 387 of 4 November 1994), monitoring is performed at the entry points by the Customs Administration. These entry points include border crossing on land, sea ports, and airports. The Customs Administration is responsible for ensuring that all goods entering and exiting Lebanon are in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. Accordingly, the Customs Administration is responsible for, among other things, of the “protection of the general welfare of Lebanon by enforcing import and export restrictions and prohibitions”.
Since the Customs Administration does not have specialised officers to enforce environmental legislation, the Ministry of Environment has undertaken to provide technical assistance. In particular, the Ministry has developed and periodically updated a list of specific items that are regulated or banned under national law (often pursuant to MEAs). These lists contain the specific names of banned materials, chemicals, and wastes and include their corresponding Harmonized System numbers. These lists provide a specific legal and technical basis for the Customs Administration to regulate (or, as appropriate, ban the entry of) the required materials, chemicals and wastes.
For more information, see http://www.moe.gov.lb or contact the Service of Prevention from Technological Impacts & Natural Disasters at j.berbari@moe.gov.lb