Canada seeks public opinion on waste import and export

Canada’s Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced the start of a public consultation period that begins the process of updating Canada’s regulatory framework for the transboundary movement of waste and hazardous recyclable materials. Environment Canada posted a discussion paper online that interested stakeholders and Canadians can comment until mid-June.

The Government of Canada is updating three existing regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), to ensure greater protection of the health and environment of Canadians and of other countries, improve policy alignment with international agreements, and add clarity to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the regulations.

The regulations to be updated are the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations, 2005, the Interprovincial Movement of Hazardous Waste Regulations, 2002, and the PCB Waste Export Regulations, 1996. The new regulatory framework will ensure that electrical and electronic equipment (commonly referred to as e-waste), being exported or imported for disposal, recycling or reuse is managed in an environmentally sound manner.

It will strengthen the implementation of Canada’s international commitments to control the movement of waste, particularly under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (1989), ratified by Canada in 1992. The regulatory update will also improve the enforceability of the regulations while reducing administrative and paperwork burden on stakeholders.