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Responsibility and Liability in the Context of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes by Sea

Part of the book series: Hamburg Studies on Maritime Affairs ((HAMBURG,volume 29))

Abstract

In December 1999, in the wake of the 5th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention held in Basel, Switzerland, the then Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Klaus Töpfer, praised the recent adoption of the Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation as a “major breakthrough”. He claimed that “[f]or the first time, we have a mechanism for assigning responsibility for damage caused by accidental spills of hazardous waste during export or import”.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (to the Basel Convention) of 10 December 1999.

  2. 2.

    Quoted from UNEP, press release of 14 December 1999, ‘Compensation and Liability Protocol Adopted by Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes’.

  3. 3.

    Tsimplis, ‘The 1999 Protocol to the Basel Convention', 16 IJMCL (2001), at 296.

  4. 4.

    Kevin Stairs, political adviser with Greenpeace International, as quoted from Basel Action Network, press release of 10 December 1999, ‘Hazardous Waste Agreement on Liability Protocol Reached at Basel Conference of Parties’.

  5. 5.

    Sharma, ‘The Basel Protocol', 26 Delhi L. Rev. (2004), at 196.

  6. 6.

    It should be added, though, that the facts of the following cases have not been officially established. These cases are depicted as far as they are described in publicly assessable articles and contributions to newspapers and journals.

  7. 7.

    For a detailed description of the M/V “Khian Sea” Incident see Gilmore, ‘The Export of Nonhazardous Waste', 19 Envtl. L. (1988/1989), at 879–883; Pellow, Resisting Global Toxics (2007), at 107–123; see also Bruno, ‘Philly Waste Go Home', 19 Multinatl. Monit. (1998).

  8. 8.

    Gilmore, ‘The Export of Nonhazardous Waste', 19 Envtl. L. (1988/1989), at 880; Pellow, Resisting Global Toxics (2007), at 108; Walsh, ‘The Global Trade in Hazardous Wastes', 42 Cath. U. L. Rev. (1992/1993), at 106.

  9. 9.

    Pellow, Resisting Global Toxics (2007), at 108; Rosenthal, ‘Ratification of the Basel Convention', 11 Temp. Envtl. L. and Tech. J. (1992), at 62–63.

  10. 10.

    Liu, ‘The Koko Incident', 8 J. Nat. Resources and Envtl. L. (1992/1993), at 130; Pellow, Resisting Global Toxics (2007), at 108; Walsh, ‘The Global Trade in Hazardous Wastes', 42 Cath. U. L. Rev. (1992/1993), at 106.

  11. 11.

    Pellow, Resisting Global Toxics (2007), at 110; Tsimplis, ‘The 1999 Protocol to the Basel Convention', 16 IJMCL (2001), at 298.

  12. 12.

    Pellow, Resisting Global Toxics (2007), at 110–119. See also Greenpeace, press release of 29 October 1998, ‘Philadelphia Incinerator Ash to Return from Haiti to the U.S.’; Haitian Government, press release of 22 April 2000, ‘The Haitian People Achieve Environmental Justice for Earth Day’; ‘Homeless for 16 Years, Barge of Garbage Returns to Pa.’, Los Angeles Times of 11 August 2002.

  13. 13.

    See Liu, ‘The Koko Incident', 8 J. Nat. Resources and Envtl. L. (1992/1993), at 127–128; Wiedemann, ‘Die schlimmste Fracht meines Lebens’, SPIEGEL of 30th May 1988.

  14. 14.

    See Gilmore, ‘The Export of Nonhazardous Waste', 19 Envtl. L. (1988/1989), at 882; Liu, ‘The Koko Incident', 8 J. Nat. Resources and Envtl. L. (1992/1993), at 130; Vir, ‘Toxic Trade with Africa', 23 Env’t Sci. and Tech. (1989), at 24.

  15. 15.

    See on this case: Eguh, ‘Regulations of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes', 9 Afr. J. Int'l and Comp. L. (1997), at 130–134; Liu, ‘The Koko Incident', 8 J. Nat. Resources and Envtl. L. (1992/1993), at 131–134; Vir, ‘Toxic Trade with Africa', 23 Env’t Sci. and Tech. (1989), at 23–24.

  16. 16.

    See Glazewski, ‘Regulating Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste', 26 CILSA (1993), at 235; Lipman, ‘Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste', Acta Jur. (1999), at 268; Poulakidas, ‘Waste Trade and Disposal in the Americas', 21 Vt. L. Rev. (1996/1997), at 874.

  17. 17.

    This incident is described by: Lohnes, ‘Taiwanese Company Dumps 3000 Tons of Toxic Waste in Cambodia', 11 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. L. and Pol'y (2000), at 264–270; Markus, ‘Taiwanese Waste Sent to Europe’, BBC News of 2nd March 2000.

  18. 18.

    HRC Doc. A/HRC/12/26/Add. 2; COP8 Doc. UNEP/CHW.8/16, at 6–9. See also Fagbohun, ‘The Regulation of Transboundary Shipments of Hazardous Waste', 37 HKLJ (2007), at 834–837; Knauer, et al., ‘Profits for Europe, Industrial Slop for Africa’, SPIEGEL ONLINE of 18th September 2006; Ognibene, ‘Dumping of Toxic Waste in Côte d'Ivoire', 37 Envtl. Pol'y and L. (2007), at 31; Pratt, ‘Decreasing Dirty Dumping?', 35 Wm. and Mary Envtl. L.and Pol'y Rev. (2011), at 582–584.

  19. 19.

    HCR Doc. A/HRC/12/26/Add. 2, at 7–8; OCHA Doc. OCHA/GVA/2006/0190; Frenk, ‘Was geschah an Bord der “Probo Koala”?’, FAZ of 27th October 2006.

  20. 20.

    The port operator instead suggested delivering the slop to a disposal facility based in Rotterdam possessing the required capability to incinerate the chemical residues. The costs, however, amounted to EUR 900 instead of EUR 20 per cubic metre.

  21. 21.

    The disposal fees amounted to USD 30–35 per cubic metre.

  22. 22.

    OCHA Doc. OCHA/GVA 2006/0184; Ognibene, ‘Dumping of Toxic Waste in Côte d'Ivoire', 37 Envtl. Pol'y and L. (2007), at 31.

  23. 23.

    HCR Doc. A/HRC/12/26/Add. 2, at 8–9; COP8 Doc. UNEP/CHW.8/16, at 7.

  24. 24.

    Fagbohun, ‘The Regulation of Transboundary Shipments of Hazardous Waste', 37 HKLJ (2007), at 836; Pratt, ‘Decreasing Dirty Dumping?', 35 Wm. and Mary Envtl. L.and Pol'y Rev. (2011), at 584.

  25. 25.

    Dowell, ‘Trafigura Settlement: A Drop in the Ocean?’, The Lawyer of 28th September 2009; Leigh, ‘Trafigura Offers £1,000 Each to Toxic Dumping Victims', The Guardian of 18th September 2009.

  26. 26.

    ‘Trafigura found guilty of exporting toxic waste’, BBC News of 23rd July 2010; Corbett, ‘Implications from ‘Probo Koala’ ruling’, Trade Winds of 30th July 2010; Evans, ‘Trafigura fined €1m for exporting toxic waste to Africa’, The Guardian, of 23rd July 2010.

  27. 27.

    The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in June 1972 was concerned with the international protection of the environment and resulted in the foundation of the UNEP and the adoption of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration as well as the formulation of an Action Plan with 109 recommendations.

  28. 28.

    A global convention dealing in general with the protection of the global environment does not exist. Non-binding rules are however contained in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration and in the 1992 Rio Declaration.

  29. 29.

    Examples of crucial environmental issues that have vanished from the current focus of public awareness are: liability for nuclear damage, use of outer space, depletion of the ozone layer, acid rain and forest dieback, dumping of wastes and nuclear wastes, and pollution from ships.

  30. 30.

    As to the difficulties generally faced by the international environmental law, see also Crawford, Brownlie's Principles of Public International Law (8th ed., 2013), at 352–355.

  31. 31.

    See 1996 Izmir Protocol on the Prevention of Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal; 1998 Tehran Protocol on the Control of Marine Transboundary Movements and Disposal of Hazardous Wastes.

  32. 32.

    In this respect, particularly the 1938/1941 Trail Smelter Arbitration Award, 3 RIAA (1949), at 1905 et seq., represents a milestone in the development of an international legal regime on the responsibility of States for transboundary harm, which finally led to the adoption of the ILC Draft Articles on State Responsibility in 2001.

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    Jan Albers

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Albers, J. (2015). Introduction. In: Responsibility and Liability in the Context of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes by Sea. Hamburg Studies on Maritime Affairs, vol 29. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43349-2_1

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