Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa, 30 January, 1991 (Bamako Convention)
Date of signature: 30 January 1991
Entry into force: 22 April 1998
Contracting Parties: Parties as of 2 February 2010
Geographic Scope: Regional (Africa)
Current classification of CO2 under the Convention: not a regulated substance Current status of CCS under the Convention: not a regulated activity
What are the aims and requirements of the Convention?
The 1991 Bamako Convention prohibits the import into Africa by non-Contracting Parties of hazardous waste for disposal. However, it allows controlled movement within Africa among Contracting Parties to the Convention who are also required to be members of the African Union (AU) (successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).
The Bamako Convention imposes a regime similar to the one under the Basel Convention (see section on the Basel Convention). The Bamako Convention requires a preventive and precautionary approach to pollution from, and international transport of, hazardous waste. It has a system of notification, prior consent and information similar to Basel. However, Bamako is more restrictive in the following respects:
the ban is absolute and exceptions are not permitted;
the condition of environmentally sound management of hazardous waste applies both to the country of import and to the country of transit;
the definition of hazardous waste is broader; and
waste used as a raw material for recycling and recovery cannot be exported under the Bamako Convention.
Key legal issues concerning CCS
CO2 is not included in the listed hazardous substances under the Convention and Contracting Parties have not yet addressed this. As a result, legal issues concerning transport of CO2 associated with CCS are very similar to those discussed with respect to the Basel Convention (see section on the Basel Convention). They concern the potential definition of CO2 as a hazardous waste, purity standards and barriers represented by the prohibition on transport. Thus far no specific proposal for CO2 transport to the territory of any Contracting Parties to this Convention has been formulated, despite growing interest in CCS from African governments.
A clarification from Contracting Parties on the applicability of the Convention to CO2 transport for the purpose of CCS may be necessary in order to allow the development of an African CO2 pipeline or other transport network.