Statement by the Head of Delegation of Japan
at the 6th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention

Held in Geneva, Switzerland, 9-13 December 2002

Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of the Government of Japan, I would like to express my warmest congratulations on your assumption of the presidency of this meeting. I am confident that with your experienced leadership this sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention will produce successful outcomes. I would also like to express our gratitude to the Government of Switzerland, the host country, and to the Secretariat of the Convention headed by Executive Secretary Sachiko Kuwabara- Yamamoto for their devoted work in preparing for this meeting.

Mr. President,
Having become a party to the Basel Convention in 1992, Japan has endeavored to actively contribute to the enforcement of the Basel Convention with the largest financial contribution to the Convention. Japan believes that strengthening administrative and technical capacities of countries for sound management of hazardous wastes should be given the highest priority among the measures seeking the solutions to the problems of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes. From this perspective, Japan has supported the establishment of Asian regional centers in China and Indonesia as well as capacity building activities for developing countries by such means as dispatching experts to relevant seminars. We sincerely hope that the ownership of developing countries and cooperation among developing countries themselves, starting from exchanges of information, among others, will enhance the effect and value of our cooperation.

Mr. President,
So far our efforts have concentrated on the establishment of the framework to control transboundary movement of hazardous wastes. Now Japan believes that we have reached the stage at which each country should be taking concrete actions based on this framework. In this sense, Japan welcomes, first, that a Strategic Plan for the next decade is expected to be formulated in this meeting with Environmentally Sound Management as the most important objective. Secondly, strengthening Regional Centres for training and technology transfer is planned with a view to steady promotion of this plan. And thirdly, a compliance mechanism to prevent and deal with non-compliance will be established. It is important to develop the system of this Convention reflecting the actual situation and needs of the time.

Mr. President,
Japan is ready to support the projects to build capacity of developing countries for environmentally sound management in accordance with the Strategic Plan and has started to consult the secretariat for this purpose. We urge other Parties to join Japan in contributing to support these activities.

Mr. President,
In order to achieve the objective of the Basel Convention of mitigating the environmental pollution caused by hazardous wastes, it is of utmost importance that the generation of hazardous wastes is prevented as much as possible to minimize its amount. Regrettably the reality is harsh. With the diversification of the types of hazardous wastes and as a result of social and economic development, the volume of the generation of hazardous wastes is increasing. Therefore, further efforts are required to halt and reverse this trend. In our daily activities, we should reduce wastes and increase reuse and recycling of what we use, and thus create a society with an environmentally sound material cycle, where the quality of the wastes produced has less adverse effect on the environment. I would like to emphasize this and call upon all countries to make efforts as much as possible, from this perspective and based on the spirit of the Basel Convention.

Mr. President,
In concluding, I would like to emphasize once again the importance for the whole world to jointly endeavor, under the Basel Convention, to properly manage the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and to prevent environment pollution as much as possible so as to ensure that the humanity on the Planet Earth will advance on the path of sustainable development.
Thank you for your attention.