4. Prohibitions

This part will prohibit transboundary movements of certain specified hazardous wastes or hazardous recyclable materials.

The following transboundary movements of hazardous wastes or hazardous recyclable materials are prohibited:

• Any exports to Antarctica (south of 60^o south latitude).
• Any exports to a country that has prohibited the import of a specific or of all hazardous wastes and/or hazardous recyclable materials, and has so notified Canada.
• Any exports to or imports from a country that is not party to one of the following:
  
  
  1. the Convention,
  2. OECD Decision C(92)39 as amended in the case of hazardous recyclable material, or
  3. a bilateral, multilateral or regional agreement or arrangement with Canada.
• The import or export of wastes or recyclable materials containing substances whose transboundary shipment is banned by another international agreement to which Canada is a party, or by other provisions of Canadian law.

Section 186 of CEPA, 1999 includes a specific authority to prohibit, completely or partially, the import, export or transit of hazardous wastes or hazardous recyclable materials in order to implement international environmental agreements binding on Canada. The first three proposed prohibitions fall within this authority as they reflect prohibitions already existing in the Basel Convention. These prohibitions already exist in the current EIHWR.

The final proposal simply ensures that the amended regulations cannot be read as an alternative control mechanism for transboundary movements of materials when such movements are banned through other international obligations or other Canadian laws. In other words, it prevents competing laws accidentally being created, but does not otherwise establish any new prohibitions. Environment Canada is also considering a prohibition on export for final disposal to developing countries or alternately to countries other than those (like the United States) with which it has a bilateral agreement.