8th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-8) to the Basel Convention

The eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (COP8) will be hosted by the Government of Kenya and will be held from 27th November to 1st December 2006 at the Office of the United Nations at Nairobi (UNON), Kenya. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of the Basel Convention and is composed of all governments that have ratified or acceded to it. The Basel Convention is the broadest and most significant international treaty on hazardous and other wastes. It regulates the international trade in hazardous waste and aims to minimise their generation and transboundary movement.  Worldwide concern about the transboundary movement and disposal of hazardous wastes was heightened in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The major concern was wastes being exported from industrialized nations for cheap disposal in inadequately prepared sites in developing countries. This concern led to a new urgency in developing and implementing international controls. It culminated in the landmark global convention under the United Nations to control the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal, commonly called the Basel Convention. The Basel Convention was opened for signature on March 22, 1989, and entered into force on May 5, 1992. As of June 2006, 168 Parties have ratified the Basel Convention. Afghanistan, Haiti, and the United States have signed but have not yet ratified the Convention.