27-28 March 2013, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire – Côte d’Ivoire held a  Final Review Meeting for the project “Implications of ratification of the Basel Convention Ban Amendment for Côte d'Ivoire”, on 27-28 March 2013, with the participation of UNITAR and a representative of the Swiss Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire.

The objectives of the workshop were to raise awareness about the Basel Convention and the Basel Convention Ban Amendment  (the amendment will prohibit exports of hazardous wastes covered by the Convention that are intended for final disposal, reuse, recycling and recovery, from Parties and other States members of the OECD, EC, Liechtenstein, to all other countries), and to present main outcomes of the project, namely a study analyzing the situation in Côte d’Ivoire related to import of hazardous wastes and implications of ratification of the Ban amendment, a legal analysis of steps needed to ratify the Ban amendment, and a draft legal text for ratification of the Ban amendment. 

The meeting represented an opportunity for some 40 participants, mainly from the public and private sectors, including 4 members of Parliament, to discuss about project outcomes, endorse proposed documents and move forward towards the ratification of the Ban amendment. Proposals were all positively welcomed by participants and endorsed for further action. Next steps will be the discussion and possible endorsement of the legal text for ratification of the Ban amendmentby Parliament, followed by signature by the President.

The Final Review Meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Côte d’Ivoire, with technical support provided by UNITAR, and financial support provided by the Government of Switzerland.