Greenpeace in the Philippines

Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto
Romulo announced that the Japanese government has confirmed that Japan
will not export toxic waste to the Philippines under the
Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). The
confirmation is contained in an exchange of diplomatic notes signed on
the same day by Sec. Romulo and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso.
       
      

Greenpeace Southeast Asia Toxics Campaigner Beau Baconguis said:

"Far
from allaying fears of toxic waste dumping in the Philippines, the
diplomatic exchange unfortunately still reinforces the pervading
concern that there is an underlying intention to trade in hazardous
waste within the JPEPA.  The fact that the JPEPA still includes
provisions which incentivizes trading of hazardous wastes suggests that
the diplomatic notes now being packaged as some kind of side agreement
to the treaty are not as clear-cut as both parties would like to make
it appear.

"The diplomatic notes state that ‘Japan would not be
exporting toxic waste to the Philippines as defined and prohibited
under the laws of the Philippines and Japan, in accordance with the
Basel Convention.’  This is where the loophole and ambiguity lies.  The
alarming fact is that current hazardous waste laws in the Philippines
are among the weakest in Southeast Asia, and allow the entry of toxic
waste under the guise of recycling.  In essence, what the diplomatic
notes say is that Japan will not be sending its hazardous waste to the
Philippines unless the latter party agrees to it.  Given what we know
about the DENR’s slack permitting system for hazardous waste imports,
we are constrained to take this latest pronouncement with a grain of
salt.

"Moreover, while both countries have signed the Basel
Convention, neither has ratified the Basel Ban Amendment.  Without the
Ban Amendment, the Philippines is not fully protected from hazardous
waste dumping by industrialized countries.  Hazardous waste can still
enter the country under the excuse of recycling–an excuse that Japan
can use to ship out toxic waste legally, since it is also not party to
the Ban Amendment.

"With the current text of the JPEPA, the
Philippines is wide open to a shameless list of toxic waste that
includes used diapers and radioactive nuclear waste.  If indeed both
countries are strongly committed to addressing environmental concerns,
they would opt for removing such toxic provisions in the treaty–rather
than merely issuing diplomatic letters external to the original
agreement, and whose weight, in the face of the bilateral treaty
itself, is highly questionable."