No. Country No. Country No. Country No. Country 1. Benin 13. Libya 5. Ghana 14 Sierra Leone 2. Burkina Faso 14. 6. Guinea-Bissau 15. Somalia 3. Burundi 15. Mozambique 7. Guinea 16. Sao Tome & 4. Cameroon 16. Mauritius Principe BamBamaako Convention on the Ban 5. Côtre d’Ivoire 17 Niger 8. Kenya 17. Swaziland 6. Comoros 18. Senegal on the Import into and 9. Lesotho 18. Zambia 7. Congo 19. Sudan

8. Democratic Rep. 20. Tanzania Control of Transboundary Below is a list of countries that have signed of Congo the Bamako Convention: Movement and MaMannagement of 9. Egypt 21. Togo 10. Ethiopia 22. Tunisia Hazardous within AfricAfricaa 11. Gabon 23. Uganda No. Country No. Country 12. Gambia 24. Zimbabwe 1. Algeria 7. Mauritania 2. Botswana 8. Namibia Below is a list of countries that have signed but not ratified the Bamako Convention: 3. Cape Verde 9. South Africa 4. Equatorial 10. Sahrawi Arab No. Country No. Country Guinea Democratic 1. Angola 10. Liberia 5. Eritrea 11. Seychelles 2. Central African 11. Madagascar 6. Malawi Rep. 3. Chad 12. 4. Djibouti 13. Rwanda AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION DEPARTMENT OF RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE ACPMEAs PROJECT, CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECT ON MULTILATERAL ENVRIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS - AFRICA HUB Tel.: +251 115 502305 /+251 115 511968 +251 115 517700 /+251 115 526373 Fax: +251 115 517844 /+251 115 502305 Project Website: http://www.au.int/SP/MEAS/ Expert registration: http://www.au.int/SP/MEAS/ content/expert-registration WHAT IS THE BAMAKO CONVENTION outdated mercury process and production into African nations, this provision is applicable equipment, e wastes, agricultural wastes etc. only to contracting parties i.e. countries that The Bamako Convention is an African convention Toxic wastes are being dumped into our waters are parties to the Convention. that speaks on the ban on the Import into Africa and harm many plants and animals in the ocean. and the Control of Trans-boundary Movement About 25 million tons of including Other obligations of the Convention to and Management of Hazardous Wastes within metal, chemicals, and acids were dumped contracting parties include the banning of Africa. The Convention prohibits all imports of into the ocean in a span of ten years. Toxic the import of hazardous wastes products into Africa, including radioactive substances in these wastes can quickly be passed and technologies; dumping of wastes; and waste. The Bamako Convention provides strong along the food chain and may eventually end controlling intra-African trade or export of legal prohibitions on hazardous waste import and up in our systems and will have adverse health hazardous wastes. dumping by declaring such activity an illegal and and environmental impacts. Huge amounts of criminal act. The prohibition also applies to products obsolete pesticides and other chemical wastes The Bamako Convention also prohibits ocean which have been banned, cancelled or withdrawn are stocked in Africa and contribute to land disposal of all types in contracting party from registration for environmental or health degradation and water contamination, resulting states and obliges these countries to minimize reasons. The Convention also prohibits hazardous in serious health implications. their own intra-African waste trade and only waste at sea or their disposal in the conduct it with prior informed consent. Parties seabed and sub-seabed. Other features include This problem is compounded by low level of to this convention are also obliged to engage the adoption of the precautionary principle in awareness of the average African, absence of in environmentally sound management and relation to waste generation and promotion of disposal facilities, high cost of destruction, and disposal of hazardous wastes generated . Trans-boundary transfer of porous borders. Controlling the trans-boundary within their countries. polluting technologies is also prohibited under the movement and entry of these hazardous wastes Convention. This convention is therefore Africa’s under the Bamako Convention would help minimise The Convention also makes provision to regional response to curb the environmental threat the threat due to these wastes. The obligations provide information to contracting parties on posed to the continent and its people by hazardous of this Convention are closely related to and the important components of implementing the wastes, which negatively impact on human health supportive of other international conventions Convention. and the environment. The Convention was negotiated such as the , the Basel Ban by twelve nations of the Organization of African Amendment and the Waigani Convention which COUNTRIES THAT SIGNED AND/ Unity at Bamako, Mali in January, 1991 and came are also intended to control and limit the global OR RATIFIED THE CONVENTION into force on April 22, 1998. The African Union trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste. Commission as the depository of the instruments of Although the Bamako Convention came into ratification. force in 1998 to date only twenty-four African WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BE A PARTY countries have ratified it. TO THE BAMAKO CONVENTION WHY IS THE BAMAKO CONVENTION

IMPORTANT Below is a list of countries that have signed Although the objective of the Bamako and ratified the Bamako Convention, or have Hazardous wastes are dumped in Africa in Convention is to prevent the import of acceded to it. several disguises, such as the dumping of hazardous wastes including radioactive wastes