Country Status

Status of Basel Convention and Basel Ban by Country Table

Last Updated: August 30, 2019.

Country (Annex VII shaded)	Basel Party	Present at COP III	Ratified Ban Amendment	Amendment ratification counts towards entry into force
Afghanistan	25 March 2013
Albania	29 Jun 1999 (a)		Ratified! 27 Oct 2005 (A)
Algeria	15 Sep 1998 (a)		Ratified! 03 Jul 2017
Andorra	23 Jul 1999 (a)		Ratified! 23 Jul 1999 (A)
Angola	06 Feb 2017 (a)
Antigua and Barbuda	05 Apr 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 23 Sep 2016	Yes
Argentina	27 Jun 1991 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 19 Sep 2011	Yes
Armenia	01 Oct 1999 (a)
Australia	05 Feb 1992 (a)	Yes
Austria	12 Jan 1993 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 17 Oct 1999 (A)	Yes
Azerbaijan	01 Jun 2001 (a)
Bahamas	12 Aug 1992 (a)	Yes
Bahrain	15 Oct 1992 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 25 Jul 2005	Yes
Bangladesh	01 Apr 1993 (a)	Yes
Barbados	24 Aug 1995 (a)
Belarus	10 Dec 1999 (a)
Belgium	01 Nov 1993 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 20 Jun 2003	Yes
Belize	23 May 1997 (a)
Benin	04 Dec 1997 (a)		Ratified! 22 Jan 2014
Bhutan	25 Aug 2002 (a)
Bolivia	15 Nov 1996 (r)		Ratified! 31 Mar 2005
Bosnia and Herzegovina	16 Mar 2001 (a)
Botswana	20 May 1998 (a)		Ratified! 17 Jun 2004 (A)
Brazil	01 Oct 1992 (a)	Yes
Brunei Darussalam	16 Dec 2002 (a)		Ratified! 16 Dec 2002 (A)
Bulgaria	16 Feb 1996 (a)		Ratified! 15 Feb 2000
Burkina Faso	04 Nov 1999 (a)
Burundi	06 Jan 1997 (a)
Cambodia	02 Mar 2001 (a)
Cameroon	02 Sep 2001 (a)
Canada	28 Aug 1992 (r)	Yes
Cabo Verde	02 Jul 1999 (a)
Central African Republic	24 Feb 2006 (a)
Chad	10 Mar 2004 (a)
Chile	11 Aug 1992 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 12 Aug 2009 (A)	Yes
China	17 Dec 1991 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 01 May 2001	Yes
Colombia	31 Dec 1996 (r)		Ratified! 10 Jun 2014
Comoros	31 Oct 1994 (a)	Yes
Congo, Republic of	20 Apr 2007 (a)		Ratified! 02 Sept 2014
Congo, Democratic Republic of	06 Oct 1994 (a)	Yes
Cook Islands	29 Jun 2004 (a)		Ratified! 29 Jun 2004
Costa Rica	07 Mar 1995 (a)	Yes
Cote d'Ivoire	01 Dec 1994 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 24 Sept 2013	Yes
Croatia	09 May 1994 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 6 Sep 2019	Yes
Cuba	03 Oct 1994 (a)	Yes
Cyprus	17 Sep 1992 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 07 Jul 2000 (A)	Yes
Czech Republic	30 Sep 1993 (d)	Yes	Ratified! 28 Feb 2000 (A)	Yes
Denmark	07 Feb 1994 (AA)	Yes	Ratified! 10 Sep 1997 (AA)	Yes
Djibouti	31 May 2002 (a)
Dominica	05 May 1998 (a)
Domican Republic	10 Jul 2000 (a)
East Timor
Ecuador	23 Feb 1993 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 06 Mar 1998	Yes
Egypt	08 Jan 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 27 Jan 2004	Yes
El Salvador	13 Dec 1991 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 07 Dec 2015	Yes
Equatorial Guinea	07 Feb 2003 (a)
Eritrea	10 Mar 2005 (a)
Estonia	21 Jul 1992 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 02 Aug 2001	Yes
Ethiopia	12 Apr 2000 (a)		Ratified! 08 Oct 2003
European Union	07 Feb 1994 (AA)		Ratified! 30 Sep 1997 (AA)	Yes
Fiji
Finland	19 Nov 1991 (A)	Yes	Ratified! 05 Sep 1996 (A)	Yes
France	07 Jan 1991 (AA)	Yes	Ratified! 18 Nov 2003 (AA)	Yes
Gabon	06 Jun 2008 (a)
Gambia	15 Dec 1997 (a)		Ratified! 07 Mar 2001
Georgia	20 May 1999 (a)
Germany	21 Apr 1995 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 24 May 2002 (A)	Yes
Ghana	20 May 2003 (a)		Ratified! 09 Jun 2005
Greece	04 Aug 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 12 Jul 2010	Yes
Grenada
Guatemala	15 May 1995 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 26 Dec 2013	Yes
Guinea	26 Apr 1995 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 06 Feb 2017	Yes
Guinea-Bissau	09 Feb 2005 (a)
Guyana	05 Apr 1002 (a)
Haiti	signature
Hondura	27 Dec 1995 (a)
Hungary	21 May 1990 (AA)	Yes	Ratified! 25 May 2004 (AA)	Yes
Iceland	28 Jun 1995 (a)
India	24 Jun 1992 (r)	Yes
Indonesia	20 Sep 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 24 Oct 2005	Yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	05 Jan 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 12 Jan 2016	Yes
Iraq	07 Feb 1994 (r)
Ireland	07 Feb 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 13 Nov 2009	Yes
Israel	04 Dec 1994 (r)	Yes
Italy	07 Feb 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 03 Mar 2009	Yes
Jamaica	23 Jan 2003 (a)		Ratified! 29 Sep 2015
Japan	17 Sep 1993 (a)	Yes
Jordan	22 Jun 1989 (AA)	Yes	Ratified! 06 Dec 2004 (AA)	Yes
Kazakhstan	03 Jn 2003 (a)
Kenya	01 Jun 2000 (a)		Ratified! 09 Sep 1009 (A)
Kiribati	07 Sep 2000 (a)
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of	10 Jul 2008 (a)
Korea, Republic of	28 Feb 1994 (a)	Yes
Kuwait	11 Oct 1993 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 12 May 2006	Yes
Kyrgyzstan	13 Aug 1996 (a)
Lao, People's Democratic Republic	21 Sep 2010 (a)
Latvia	14 Apr 1992 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 18 Dec 2003 (A)	Yes
Lebanon	21 Dec 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 13 Oct 2017 (A)	Yes
Lesotho	31 May 2000 (a)		Ratified! 22 Feb 2012 (A)
Liberia	22 Sep 2004 (a)		Ratified! 16 Sep 2005 (A)
Libya	12 Jul 2001 (a)
Liechtenstein	27 Jan 1992 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 20 May 2003 (A)	Yes
Lithuania	24 Apr 1999 (a)		Ratified! 07 Nov 2003 (A)
Luxembourg	07 Feb 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 14 Aug 1997	Yes
Madagascar	02 Jun 1999 (a)
Malawi	21 Apr 1994 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 01 Aug 2017	Yes
Malaysia	08 Oct 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 26 Oct 2001	Yes
Maldives	28 Apr 1992 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 19 Jun 2017	Yes
Mali	12 May 2000 (a)
Malta	19 Jun 2000 (a)		Ratified! 12 Dec 2011 (A)
Marshall Islands	27 Jan 2003 (a)
Mauritania	16 Aug 1996 (a)
Mauritius	24 Nov 1992 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 09 Nov 2004	Yes
Mexico	22 Feb 1992 (r)	Yes
Micronesia, Federated States of	06 Sep 1995 (a)
Moldova, Republic of	02 Jul 1998 (a)		Ratified! 18 Nov 2008 (A)
Monaco	31 Aug 1992 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 20 Mar 2013 (AA)	Yes
Mongolia	15 Apr 1997 (a)
Montenegro	23 Oct 2006 (d)		Ratified! 23 Oct 2006 (d)
Morocco	28 Dec 1995 (a)		Ratified! Sep 2004 (AA)
Mozambique	13 Mar 1997 (a)
Myanmar	96 Jan 2015 (A)
Namibia	15 May 1995 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 31 Aug 2018 (A)	Yes
Nauru	12 Nov 2001 (a)
Nepal	15 Oct 1996 (a)
Netherlands	16 Apr 1993 (A)	Yes	Ratified! 22 Jan 2001 (A)	Yes
New Zealand	20 Dec 1994 (r)	Yes
Nicaragua	03 Jun 1997 (a)
Niger	17 Jun 1998 (AA)		Ratified! 15 Nov 2015
Nigeria	13 Mar 1991 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 24 May 2004	Yes
Niue
Norway	02 Jul 1990 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 16 Jul 1997 (A)	Yes
Oman	08 Feb 1995 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 17 May 2004	Yes
Pakistan	26 Jul 1994 (a)	Yes
Palau	08 Sep 2011 (a)
Panama	22 Feb 1991 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 07 Oct 1998	Yes
Papua New Guinea	01 Sep 1995 (a)
Paraguay	28 Sep 1995 (a)		Ratified! 28 Aug 1998
Peru	23 Nov 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 30 Mar 2015 (A)	Yes
Philippines	21 Oct 1993 (r)	Yes
Poland	20 Mar 1992 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 29 Jan 2003 (A)	Yes
Portugal	26 Jan 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 30 Oct 2000	Yes
Qatar	09 Aug 1995 (a)		Ratified! 28 Feb 2002	Yes
Romania	27 Feb 1992 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 17 Jul 2002 (A)	Yes
Russian Federation	31 Jan 1995 (r)	Yes
Rwanda	07 Jan 2004 (a)
Saint Kitts and Nevis	07 Sep 1994 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 29 Aug 2019	Yes
Saint Lucia	09 Dec 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 22 Jan 2002	Yes
Saint Vincent and Granadines	02 Dec 1996 (a)
Samoa	22 Mar 2002 (a)
Sao Tome and Principe	12 Nov 2013 (a)
Saudi Arabia	07 Mar 1990 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 10 Jan 2013	Yes
Senegal	10 Nov 1992 (a)	Yes
Serbia	18 Apr 2000 (a)		Ratified! 22 Nov 2002 (A)
Seychelles	11 May 1993 (A)	Yes	Ratified! 15 Jul 2015	Yes
Sierra Leone
Singapore	02 Jan 1996 (a)
Slovak Republic	28 May 1993 (d)	Yes	Ratified! 11 Sep 1998 (A)	Yes
Slovenia	07 Oct 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 01 Dec 2004	Yes
Solomon Islands
Somalia	26 Jul 2010 (a)
South Africa	05 May 1994 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 24 Jun 2016	Yes
South Sudan
Spain	07 Feb 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 07 Aug 1997 (A)	Yes
Sri Lanka	28 Aug 1992 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 29 Jan 1999	Yes
State of Palestine	02 Jan 2015 (a)
Sudan	09 Jan 2006 (a)
Suriname	20 Sep 2011 (a)
Swaziland	08 Aug 2005 (a)
Sweden	02 Aug 1991 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 10 Sep 1997 (A)	Yes
Switzerland	31 Jan 1990 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 07 Nov 2002 (A)	Yes
Syrian Arab Republic	22 Jan 1992 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 05 Oct 2004	Yes
Tanzania, United Republic of	07 Apr 1993 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 26 Aug 2002	Yes
Tajikstan
Thailand	24 Nov 1997 (r)
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	16 Feb 1997 (a)		Ratified! 18 Nov 2004
Togo	02 Jul 2004 (a)
Tonga	26 Mar 2010 (a)
Trinidad and Tobago	18 Feb 1994 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 12 Jan 2000	Yes
Tunisia	11 Oct 1995 (a)		Ratified! 26 Mar 1999
Turkey	22 Jun 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 27 Aug 2003	Yes
Turkmenistan	25 Sep 1996 (a)
Tuvalu
Uganda	11 Mar 1999 (a)
Ukraine	08 Oct 1999 (a)
United Arab Emirates	17 Nov 1992 (r)	Yes
United Kingdom	07 Feb 1994 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 13 Oct 1997	Yes
United States	signature
Uruguay	22 Dec 1991 (r)	Yes	Ratified! 10 Mar 1999	Yes
Uzbekistan	07 Feb 1996 (a)
Vanuatu	16 Oct 2018 (a)
Venezuela	03 Mar 1998 (r)
Viet Nam	13 Mar 1995 (a)	Yes
Yemen, Repiblcic of	21 Feb 1996 (a)
Zambia	15 Nov 1994 (a)	Yes	Ratified! 27 Jul 2011	Yes
Zimbabwe	01 Mar 2012 (a)
Totals	Basel party count	Present at COP III	Ratified	Count towards entry into force
	187	87	97	66

* Gray shading indicates an Annex VII country.

General Note: Due to the constant change in status of various treaties, amendments and protocols, the Basel Action Network cannot ensure the absolute accuracy of all of these listings in this table. We therefore appreciate those that will call our attention to any errors or changes in status to assist us in updating the table as accurately and in as timely a manner as possible.

Summary Explanation of Table Listings

Basel Convention

”The Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal” was adopted on 21 March 1989 and went into force on 5 May 1992. It establishes a framework of control over the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes.

As listed in the 2nd column of the table above, if a country has joined the treaty through the deposit of ratification (r), accession (a), acceptance (A) or Approval (AA) they are considered Parties as of the indicated date of deposit. The total number of such Parties is listed at bottom. If a country has signed the treaty but has not yet ratified it, this is indicated by the word “signature”.

Basel Ban Amendment

Plenipotentiaries Meeting: At the meeting of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland in March of 1989 a great effort was made to insert a prohibition in the text of the Convention to prevent rich, developed countries from exporting their hazardous wastes to developing countries. Indeed, most developed countries believed this to be the most important reason for the Convention itself. By virtue of the consensus process by which any one country could block an agreement, they were to be disappointed when the United States and some other developed countries continually blocked different variations of the ban. At the adoption of the Convention without the ban, the African Group walked out refusing to sign, stating that they would create their own Convention in Africa which they later accomplished (Bamako Convention).

Second Conference of Parties: Following adoption of the Convention, there was an attempt to create a ban on the export of hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries at the first Conference of the Parties. The first real ban decision did not come into being until the Second Conference of the Parties. Decision II/12 was passed by a consensus of the 66 Parties present in Geneva on 25 March 1994. In this ban all exports of hazardous wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries would be banned. The ban took place immediately for final disposal, and for those wastes bound for recycling destinations, the ban took effect on 31 December 1997. However, detractors of the ban claimed that for the decision to be legally binding it need to become an amendment to the Convention. Thus at the Third Conference of the Parties a new decision III/1 was adopted to create the Basel Ban Amendment.

Third Conference of the Parties: Decision III/1 and Annex VII: Decision III/1 was passed by a consensus of the Parties present at the Third Conference of Parties of the Basel Convention on 22 September 1995 (COP3). It has been determined that there were 90 Parties at that time. The decision established an amendment to the Convention to establish a new Article 4A and an Annex VII. The article obligates Parties that are listed on Annex VII (country members of the OECD, EU and Liechtenstein) to ban exports of hazardous wastes to all countries not listed on Annex VII. Annex VII countries are indicated by the gray shading in the table above. The amendment will go into force when 68 Parties of the 90 present at COP3 have ratified the amendment. In the table above, the third column indicates if the Party was present at COP3 and the 4th column indicates whether the country has ratified to date. If a country appears on both the 3rd and 4th columns then its ratification counts towards the 68 Parties needed for entry into force of the amendment as indicated by a “yes” in the 5th column.

In the table above, the third column indicates if the country was present at COP3 and the 4th column indicates whether the country has ratified to date. If a country appears on both the 3rd and 4th columns then its ratification counts towards the 66 Parties needed for entry into force of the amendment.

As of September 6, 2019 and the Ratification by Croatia we have achieved the requisite number of Parties for Entry into Force of the Ban Amendment.

It should now enter force 90 days after -- on December 5, 2019!

Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

When the Parties to the Convention sought to make an economic distinction between developed and developing countries in Decision II/12, they chose the divider line established by the OECD — a group which currently has 34 members and and for the most part represent the more highly developed and industrialized countries. This group by far produces the most hazardous waste (estimated at 90%) and by far has the most resources to ensure that it is dealt with responsibly at home. Thus the Basel Ban Decision and Amendment were meant to apply only to these countries. In 1995, the Parties created Annex VII and included the EU countries as well as Liechtenstein (an EFTA member country).

European Union

The Basel Convention allows political or economic integration organizations to join the Convention as Parties to it. The European Commission of the European Economic Community, now known as the European Union, has ratified the Convention as have most of their member states. When it comes time to vote in the Convention, ordinarily the European Commission has the competence to vote the 27 votes of the member states plus one vote for the Commission as a bloc of 28. While the competence over ratification of the treaty itself or its amendments remains the subject of some controversy, it is generally accepted that the European Commission possesses the competence for ratification or accession especially over treaties related to trade. With respect to the Basel Ban Amendment which the Commission has ratified while individual member states have not all taken the somewhat redundant step of likewise ratifying, our table records the Commission and all of the EU countries which (in total 28), while not all having deposited individual ratifications, nevertheless are bound by the Basel Ban as having “Implemented!” it in national law as required by the Waste Shipment Regulation of the European Union.

European Economic Agreement

Additionally the countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, all members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) are also bound by the implementation legislation 259/93 and amendments (see below) due to their obligations under the trade linking agreement between EFTA and the EU known as the European Economic Agreement (EEA). As Norway has ratified the Basel Ban Amendment outright, it is listed as a ratifier of the Basel Ban Amendment while Iceland and Liechtenstein are listed as having implemented it.

Basel Ban

(See Ban Amendment)

Decision II/12: This decision was passed by a consensus of the 66 Parties at the Second Conference of Parties of the Basel Convention on 25 March 1994. All exports of hazardous wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries would be banned. The ban takes place immediately for final disposal, and for those wastes bound for recycling destinations, the ban would take effect on 31 December 1997.

Decision III/1 and Annex VII: This decision was passed by a consensus of the Parties present at the Third Conference of Parties of the Basel Convention on 22 September 1995. It has been determined that there were 87 Parties at that time. The decision established an amendment to the Convention to establish a new Article 4A and an Annex VII. The article obligates Parties that are listed on Annex VII (country members of the OECD, EU and Liechtenstein) to ban exports of hazardous wastes to all countries not listed on Annex VII. The ban would take place immediately for final disposal, and for those wastes bound for recycling destinations, the ban would take effect on 31 December 1997. The Amendment will go into force when 66 countries (3/4ths of the 87 Parties at that time) have ratified it.

An X on the table, indicates the country joined in the consensus decision in 1995. The word “Ratified” and the country flag indicates that the country has deposited its ratification.