Overview
Transboundary movement of wastes, falling into the scope of “hazardous wastes and other wastes” under the Basel Convention, are regulated by the Japanese Basel Law (Law for the Control of Export, Import and Others of Specified Hazardous Wastes and Other Wastes)
When a partner country for the export or import of hazardous wastes is a non-OECD country, the provisions of the Basel Convention apply to the said transboundary movements. Meanwhile, when a partner country is an OECD country, “the Decision of the OECD Council concerning the revision of Decision C (92) 39/Final on the control of transboundary movements of waste destined for recovery operations” applies in principle on a basis pursuant to the provision of Article 11 (Bilateral, Multilateral and Regional Agreements) of the Basel Convention. There are differences regarding the scope of hazardous wastes and other wastes and the targeted export or import procedures between the Basel Convention and the Decision by the OECD Council, some procedures are exempted for import and export with OECD countries as shown below.
| Import | Export | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green | Amber | Green | Amber | |||
| OECD | R Operation (Annex IV-B) |
- | - | |||
| D Operation (Annex IV-A) |
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| Non-OECD | R Operation (Annex IV-B) |
- | ||||
| D Operation (Annex IV-A) |
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Note:
- ”Green” means wastes with relatively less hazardous content, such as waste electronic substrates prescribed in Chapter II B(2)(a) of the Decision by the OECD Council.
- ”Amber” means hazardous wastes prescribed in Chapter II B(2)(b) of the Decision of the OECD Council other than wastes falling under the Green control procedure.
- “
” indicates PIC (Prior informed Consent) procedures are required, while “-“ indicates PIC procedures are exempted.
The Japanese Basel Law sets forth “hazardous wastes” based on the provisions of the Basel Convention and the Decision of the OECD Council, making it necessary for any export or import of hazardous wastes and to undergo a certain procedure, such as prior informed consent (PIC) by a trading partner country and/or approval by the competent authority of Japan.
| [Examples of controlled items] | [Examples of exempted items] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead acid batteries Plating sludge Shredder dust Waste asbestos |
Iron scrap Paper wastes Fiber wastes Rubber wastes |
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