Japanese waste dumped by the boatload on Taizhou, China. Waste includes hazardous waste computers, computer monitors, old transformers, sealed refrigeration units, etc. ©2004 Basel Action Network

"The truth has not been told about Japan's true intentions to utilize bilateral free trade agreements such as JPEPA to project their vision of a free trade in waste particularly between Japan and its developing country neighbors,” said Richard Gutierrez of the Basel Action Network’s new Asia Pacific office in Manila. “Not only is this very dangerous for the sustainability of the Philippines, but the JPEPA is a direct attack on the goals and decisions of the Basel Convention—a landmark treaty designed to protect developing countries and already accepted by over 160 countries,” he said.

Much is revealed in the policy brief entitled Networking International Recycling Zones in Asia. ⁱ In it, a two leg strategy is projected to override the "cumbersome procedure" of the Basel Convention which "has become a barrier to international trade of recyclables." First, the strategy advocates utilizing the Japanese G8 project known as the “3R Initiative” which under the name of promoting recycling promotes the elimination of trade barriers to wastes. Second, the Japanese strategy advocates the use of bilateral free trade agreements (such as JPEPA) to eliminate trade barriers in waste and in particular make use of the “comparative advantage” of developing countries.

The BAN report entitled “JPEPA as a Step in Japan’s Greater Plan to Liberalize Hazardous Waste Trade in Asia”, supports the recently formed “Magkaisa Junk JPEPA” coalition’s and others in the Philippines that claim that JPEPA can turn the Philippines into a “garbage republic”. The report asserts that JPEPA can serve to override existent national law, prevent the Philippines from ratifying the Basel Ban Amendment (the 1995 global ban on exports of hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries) and prevent the Philippines from complying with the obligations and decisions of the Basel Convention. Rather than upholding international environmental law, the JPEPA waste trade provisions undo the Basel Convention’s principle of minimizing and at times prohibiting hazardous waste trade. According to BAN this is by design and is no accident.

“It is well known that Japan has no intention of ratifying the Basel Ban Amendment and is taking steps to prevent its neighbors from implementing it as well,” said Richard Gutierrez of BAN. “To Japan the JPEPA is a very important opening gambit in a global chess game to undermine the Basel Convention and its principle of not allowing waste colonialism.”

BAN, together with the newly formed “Magkaisa Junk JPEPA” coalition will be taking its new report to the Senate on Wednesday 8 November. In the report BAN recommends:

1. Immediate removal of all waste trade liberalization provisions from the JPEPA.
   
   
2. Japan and the Philippines must ratify the Basel Convention’s Ban Amendment
   at the earliest possible date as they have been urged to do since 1995.
   
   
3. A full impartial multi-stakeholder inquiry into how these provisions survived the
   negotiation process.
   
   
4. Japan must completely remove from the 3R initiative all references to eliminating or
   reducing trade barriers for wastes and cease efforts to liberalize waste trade globally.
   
   
5. Japan and the Philippines must embark on a serious program to prevent hazardous and
   other wastes at source via toxics use reductions, elimination of excessive packaging
   and planned obsolescence.

For more information download the Full BAN Report at:

Letter Size: www.ban.org/library/JPEPA_Report.pdf
A4 Size: www.ban.org/library/JPEPA_Report_BAN_A4.pdf

Contact:

Richard Gutierrez in Manila at: Tel: +63.2. 9290376, e-mail: rgutierrez@ban.org
Jim Puckett in Seattle at: +1.206.652.5555 (office), +1.206.354.0391 (cell), e-mail: jpuckett@ban.org

ⁱ This policy brief has been produced by a Japanese government launched and funded organization known as the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.

The revealing document can be found at: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/pdf/policybrief/001.pdf