PRESS RELEASE

The ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties(COP9) to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal begins Monday, 23 June 2008 in Bali, Indonesia.

The theme of COP9 is Waste Management for Human Health and Livelihood," which will be considered during the COP's high-level segment on Thursday and Friday, 26 and 27 June respectively.

The key issues to be considered by COP9 include: the 2009-2010 programme of work; a budget for the Basel Convention trust funds for 2009-2010; a recommendation for improved cooperation and coordination between the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions developed by the Ad Hoc Joint Working Group on Cooperation and Coordination; initiating a process to develop a successor arrangement for the Strategic Plan beyond 2010; agreeing to an approach towards reaching an agreed interpretation of paragraph 5 of Article 17 of the Convention(and entry into force of amendments); and initiating a process leading to an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Convention at COP11, in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 15 of the Convention.