促进电子产品循环利用价值链的贸易.docx

3581014151616171819202022242829Cover: Getty image&'Ladislav KubesInside: Getty images/baranozdemir; UnsplaslVMagnus Engo; Getty images/tunart; Getty images/AvigatorPhotographer; Unsplash/Nasa; Getty images/Garsya; Getty images/Urupong; Getty images/Grigorev Vladimir; Getty images/vgajic; Getty images，' martin dm; Getty imagesfizkes;ContentsExecutive SummaryIntroduction1. Purpose and ScopeThe Trade Landscape2. Reverse Supply Chain Challenges2.1 Classification2.2 Transaction costs2.3 Permitting processScoping Solutions2.4 Border measures2.5 Internal measures2.6 Transparency2.7 Policy actiona. International trade instrumentsb. Regulatory cooperationConclusionAppendixAcknowledgementsEndnotes© 2020 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.©The Basel Convention has the objectives of reducing hazardous waste generation.Historically, many developed economies exported e- waste to regions with cheaper disposal facilities and lower environmental standards where it quickly became a danger to workers and communities. In response, international and national regulatory interventions have been taken over the past two decades to control waste dumping and have been able to stop the most egregious examples of this practice.17 As explained in Box 1, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal contains important requirements regulating and limiting transboundary movement of hazardous e- waste and other wastes.The Basel Convention has the objectives of reducing hazardous waste generation, promoting the environmentally sound management of hazardous and other wastes, controlling the transboundary movements and disposal of hazardous wastes, except where it is perceived to be in accordance with the principles of environmentally sound management, and creating a regulatory system - through the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure - to apply to cases where transboundary movements are permissible. The Convention is a vital piece of global policy architecture for avoiding illegal hazardous waste dumping. Restrictions on legal transboundary movement of some electronic products that could be traded for resource recovery, however, can lead to waste not being effectively and safely recovered. Even where trade is allowed, the complex, multilayered permitting regime that has developed over the years significantly increases the time and costs of such trade, which some stakeholders say holds back reuse, repair and high-quality recycling.BOX 2:Box 2: The Basel Convention and E- WasteThe Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal permits the transboundary movement of hazardous and other waste in narrowly defined circumstances: the country of export cannot process the waste in an environmentally sound manner, or the waste is required as raw material for recycling or recovery industries in the country of import. In addition, all movements must comply with other requirements and formalities. As a result, the Convention imposes strict limits on the transboundary movement of used electrical and electronic equipment fused equipment"), when that equipment is classified as: (1) waste; that is (2) hazardous.'8 Consequently, under the Convention, the distinctions between waste and non- waste and between hazardous and non- hazardous waste are critical. To clarify these distinctions, the Convention parties provisionally agreed Technical Guidelines, which were most recently updated in 2019 and will be considered for final adoption by the parties in 2021.19When is used equipment classified as waste? Under the Convention's non- binding Technical Guidelines, the classification of used equipment as waste ("e- waste") depends on a consideration of all circumstances, including its intended use and the state of the equipment.20 When used equipment is destined for disposal or recycling, it is waste. When used equipment is destined for failure analysis, repair, refurbishment or reuse, it is non- waste, provided certain conditions are met. Under the Technical Guidelines, shipments of used equipment destined for failure analysis, repair, or refurbishment are non- waste if: (i) the domestic legislation of any of the countries involved in the transboundary movement (i.e., countries of export, import and transit) do not define the used equipment as waste; (ii) the used equipment in question is accompanied by the required documentation and declarations and a valid contract is in place; and (iii) the used equipment is shipped with appropriate protection against damage. If the used equipment is shipped for direct reuse (e.g., after repair), it must meet the same requirements and the Guidelines provide that it should be tested to demonstrate functionality. Under the Guidelines, a transporter must provide detailed documentation to support a claim that used equipment is not waste - in case of doubt, the equipment could be considered waste. Because each party enjoys discretion to classify used equipment as waste, even when destined for reuse or repair, used equipment may be regarded as waste in some countries but not others.When is e- waste classified as hazardous? Under the Basel Convention, waste is classified as hazardous based on the characteristics it exhibits and its physical components. For e- waste, two mirror listings appear in the Convention's annexes: e- waste containing hazardous components or substances, such as those listed in entry A1180 of Annex VIII (e.g., the presence of nickel- cadmium batteries or batteries containing mercury), is classified as hazardous if the waste possess the hazardous characteristics listed in Annex III. On the other hand, pursuant to entry B1110 to Annex IX, e- waste not containing those hazardous components or substances is classified as non- hazardous if the waste does not possess the hazardous characteristics listed in Annex III. To clarify this distinction, the parties are currently considering minor revisions to entries A1180 and B1110. While countries around the world have transcribed entries A1180 and B1110 into their national laws, a party also has discretion to classify e- waste as hazardous for purposes of the Convention, even when it is not so classified under the Convention.2' This means that used equipment may be classified as "hazardous waste" in one country but not in another.©The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has suggested between 60%- 90% of e- waste is illegally traded or dumped.What rules apply to hazardous e- waste? The Basel Convention and national implementing legislation impose strict rules on transboundary movements of hazardous e- waste.22 There is also a pending proposal to amend the Convention to apply similar controls on shipments of all e- waste, which could be considered as early as July 2021. Depending on the countries involved, the transboundary movement of hazardous e- waste is either banned or, when permitted, subject to complex administrative formalities, in each country of movement (i.e., export, import and transit), under the “prior informed consent" process:1 . The following transboundary movements of hazardous e- waste are banned: (i) Exports from a party listed in Annex VII to the Convention (i.e., members of the OECD, EU and Lichtenstein) to or through a country (whether or not a party) not listed in Annex VII (e.g., developing countries);23 (ii) exports from a party that bans the exportation of hazardous e- waste under its domestic legislation;24 (iii) exports to a party that bans the importation, or through a party that bans the transit, of hazardous e- waste under its domestic legislation;25 and (iv) exports to and imports from a country that is not a party to the Convention (such as the United States), unless a special agreement exists (see below).26The following transboundary movements are permitted with prior informed consent (PIC): Other transboundary movements of hazardous e- waste are permitted provided the country of import and each country of transit separately grant PIC in writing.27 There is an option for transit countries to provide tacit consent, but this has not been widely used in practice. The countries of import and transit each have broad discretion to permit or refuse a movement (with or without conditions) after seeking any necessary information. In other words, even if a movement is not subject to a general ban under the Convention, movement of e- waste may be banned by any country of import or transit. Each separate application for PIC is typically time- consuming and costly and carries considerable uncertainty over how long it will take to receive a response and whether consent will be provided or refused.Article 11 of the Basel Convention also allows parties to adopt special agreements or arrangements with other parties or non- parties to reduce the burdens usually placed on transboundary movements under the Convention. These special agreements must not derogate from the environmentally sound management required under the Basel Convention for hazardous e- waste and other wastes.28 A prominent example is an OECD Council Decision that governs movements of hazardous and other waste for recovery between OECD countries, including the Us/*。The OECD Council Decision places most e- waste for recovery on a "green list" (the corresponding codes are GC010 and GC020), which means it is subject to the usual border controls applied to regular commercial transactions and not to the more cumbersome PIC procedure. Another example is the Waigani Convention that provides a waste control regime for Pacific Island states.In addition to Basel Convention obligations, to which 187 states are party, countries are increasingly developing specific e- waste legislation covering product take- back requirements, extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes and landfill bans, among others. Around 78 countries, accounting for 71% of the world's population, have legislated to deal with e- waste, up from 44% in 2014. Implementation, legal binding and provisions on transboundary movement vary (see Annex 1). International capacity building and multistakeholder initiatives on e- waste issues have also been launched over the years.31Low enforcement and the complexity of legal trade in used products and hazardous waste have meant that illicit trade thrives.32 Although exact research has not been done, in 2015, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has suggested between 60%- 90% of e- waste is illegally traded or dumped.33 Domestic regulatory shifts in Asia have led to an increase of illegal flows to Africa -and to Nigeria and Ghana in particular though, again, the scale of these transboundary flows needs to be quantified.34 Methods used to conduct illegal trade include labelling hazardous e- waste as second- hand goods for repurposing, mixing hazardous e- waste with other legitimate electronics shipments, mis- labelling shipping containers to divert attention from the shipment of illegal forms of e- waste, and bribing customs officials to facilitate illicit trade. Many stakeholders consider illegal trade is aided by high barriers to legal reverse supply chains. Tackling the latter to reduce associated time and costs could increase the scale and geographic reach of regulated processing.Increased international attention is being paid to e- waste and trade. The scope of electronic products covered by the Basel Convention is likely to expand as parties explore amendments to the Annexes. Some countries, including Ghana and Switzerland, have proposed listing non- hazardous e- wastes on Annex II (categories of wastes requiring special consideration), which would, in effect, obligate parties to ban certain movements of such non- hazardous e- waste (see Box 2, scenarios 1(ii) to 1(iv) and, otherwise, permit such movements subject to PIC (see Box 2, scenario 2)户 The parties to the Convention are also considering amendments to Annex I (waste constituents and categories) and Annex III (hazardous characteristics) that have the potential to expand the universe of e- waste deemed hazardous.If the focus remains entirely on restricting risky trade, however, these developments could stall existing circular business models and stymie new efforts. Trade officials have not really considered reverse supply chains that companies are beginning to build. Boosting environmental goods and services trade has been done in some free trade agreements (FTAs), which could improve the availability of recovery services, but circular economy concepts are largely still nascent in trade policy. The interventions are on circular electronics, but a broader circular economy approach may ultimately be more effective and use many of the same tools proposed.4 Reverse Supply Chain ChallengesA set of issues adds complexity and costs and holds up the development of responsible, reverse supply chains for electronics.&4.1 Classification©The possibility of materials getting stuck or blocked where slight changes are made to shipment content or routes is very high.Among the major issues highlighted by stakeholders interviewed for this paper was the complexity of electronic product categorizations across countries that affect how these items are treated in trade transactions. Companies or those offering associated services must navigate a patchwork of regulatory requirements to move used and end- of- life products for circular objectives. Although the Basel Convention offers a reference point, country- level divergences exist particularly on the definition, classification and distinction between hazardous waste, non- hazardous waste, and non- waste goods destined for reuse, failure analysis, repair and refurbishment. In some cases, non- waste goods may be considered waste under a particular country's legislation and become subject to certain controls affecting cross- border shipment.Firms stressed that the premature classification of products as waste, when instead destined for legitimate repair, refurbishment and reuse, impacts business models designed to limit virgin materials consumption. The economic viability of reverse supply chains for repair, reuse and remanufacturing shifts if used goods must comply with additional e- waste movement requirements (see below).Other challenges occur when e- waste is classified as hazardous without regard to whether it exhibits hazardous characteristics. Countries can differ on the definition and requirements for transport of hazardous and non- hazardous e- waste, vich adds to reverse supply chain logistics issues.Further, companies said they regularly experienced situat