1. Secretariat of the Basel Convention Side event COP 2 Stockholm Convention : Implementation of projects related to POPs wastes through the Basel Convention Regional Centres Andreas Arlt Secretariat of the Basel Convention (SBC) Preparation of national inventories, and national plans for the environmentally sound management of PCB and PCB containing equipment in Central America and Panama

2. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 2

3. 3 Joint project of UNEP DTIE-Chemicals Branch and SBC aimed at helping countries in their implementation of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions Implemented by SBC and the BCRC–El Salvador Geographical scope: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá (6 Central American countries) Duration: 25 months (July 2004 – July 2006) Budget: about US-$ 648,000 Donors: United States of America (US EPA): US-$ 350,000 Finland:US-$ 250,000 Basel Convention Fund (BD)US-$ 48,000 General Information

4. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 4 1.Preparation of National Inventories of PCBs and PCB containing equipment 2.Preparation of National Action Plans for the environmentally sound management (ESM) of PCBs 3.Development of a regional strategy for the environmentally sound management, including disposal, of PCBs 4.Assessment of existing national legislation and regulations on the environmentally sound management of PCBs 5.Development of a draft legislation reflecting obligations of Parties to the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Convention 6.Increasing the capacity of participating countries in controlling the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes Objectives

5. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 5 Institutional Framework National coordinators National committee National experts National coordinators National committee National experts National coordinators National committee National experts Regional Coordination Regional Coordinator Team of the regional coordinator (Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" (UCA)) International experts Joint Management Team UNEP/SBC UNEP DTIE, Chemicals Branch

6. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 6 Regional level 4 regional workshops for national coordinators and national experts Coordination of the project Training courses (PCB inventories, national action plans, control of transboundary movement) Development of the regional strategy, draft legislation National level Development of the inventory Development of the draft national action plans on ESM of PCBs Development of a draft national legislation Activities

7. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 7 1. Inventories All countries prepare their national inventories of transformers by collecting data from the electricity sector (generation, transmission, distribution), industry, public sector. Inventories will contain up to 90 % of the existing transformers in each country. Industry and public sector contribute their existing data. However, analysing transformer oils will not be finished by end of the project, because of temporal, budgetary and technical constraints. Results (1)

8. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 8 DATABASE for National PCB Inventories

9. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 9 Results (2) 2. Preparation of National Action Plans for the environmentally sound management (ESM) of PCBs All countries are in the process of developing their national action plans for ESM of PCBs. Some have submitted their first drafts (Activities under the NIPs (Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama) are considered). Plans are developed according to the same model in each country Contents

10. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 10 Results (3) 3.Development of a regional strategy based on national strategies 4.Assessment of existing national legislation and regulations on the environmentally sound management of PCBs by national legal experts 5.Development of a draft legislation reflecting obligations of Parties to the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Convention by an international legal expert 6.Increasing the capacity of participating countries in controlling the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes training during second national workshop

11. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 11 Way forward 1.Project will be completed by end July 2006. 2.Results (inventories, national action plan, regional strategy) substantial and sufficiently complete to develop a regional disposal project. 3.In the meantime, countries might refine the national inventories in cooperation with the owners of the transformers (electrical sector, industry, public sector). 4.Implementation of a regional project on « Environmentally sound management of PCB containing equipment and disposal of wastes containing PCBs ».

12. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 12 Concluding remarks Implementation of the regional project has shown: 1.The development of a regional approach to ESM of specific hazardous wastes is an essential step towards assisting Parties to implement the Basel Convention. 2.The project provides an operational platform to build synergies at the regional level with relevant conventions or programmes. 3.It provides a mechanism for the participation of the private sector. 4.The successful cooperation with UNEP DTIE Chemicals Branch

13. Secretariat of the Basel Convention 13 Further information Andreas Arlt United Nations Environment Programme Secretariat of the Basel Convention (SBC) 15, Chemin des Anémones CH-1219 Châtelaine Genève, Switzerland Tel.: +41 22 917 8364 Fax: +41 22 797 3454 email: Andreas.Arlt@unep.ch www.basel.int