Madam Speaker, Canada played a leadership role in the negotiation of the Basel amendments on plastic waste during the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention and supported their adoption. Canada considers these amendments as very important, as they are key to strengthening controls on exports of certain plastic waste, leading to cleaner trade of plastic waste globally and contributing to a reduction of marine litter.
I am very pleased to inform the House that Canada accepted the amendments on December 29, 2020. As a result, since January 1, 2021, Canadian exporters must obtain export permits to be able to export these plastic wastes to parties to the convention. The consent of the importing country is required before an export permit will be issued. All parties to the convention have now accepted these important amendments, except for Turkey. This means that a global framework for controlling the transboundary movement of these plastic wastes is now in place. This represents an important safeguard to allow parties to deny the import of plastic waste subject to the convention, including prohibiting imports from non-parties.
The fact is that the Basel Convention states that parties to the convention wanting to trade waste subject to the convention with a non-party must enter into an agreement with that country that is a non-legally binding instrument or that is a legally binding instrument. Both non-legally binding and legally binding instruments can satisfy the requirements of the convention. Such instruments must respect the obligations of the convention, and the traded waste must be managed in an environmentally sound manner.
As we know, the U.S. is not a party to the Basel Convention. Basel parties around the world can allow imports of plastic waste covered by the convention from the U.S. only if they have entered into an arrangement or agreement with the U.S., as required by the convention. Since Canada trades plastic waste with the United States, and in accordance with its obligation under Basel, Canada concluded an arrangement with the United States for the environmentally sound management of non-hazardous waste traded between the two countries.
The arrangement applies between only Canada and the United States. Plastic waste covered by the Basel Convention and destined to a party to the convention is subject to Canadian regulation and requires an export permit, which will only be granted if the importing party consents to the import. This is the case even if the waste ships through the United States.
There is no free pass for exports of controlled plastic waste from Canada to Basel parties when going through the United States, securing a commitment that non-hazardous waste traded between Canada and the U.S. is and will continue to be managed in an environmentally sound manner, as is at the heart of this arrangement. This arrangement is based upon the legislative and other measures put in place by the countries and, as such, is consistent with the Basel Convention provisions and allows trade to continue freely between our countries.
There is significant environmental gains in allowing plastic waste to move freely across the Canada-U.S. border. These include access to feedstock for recycling operations in Canada, recycling in the U.S. of plastic waste that would otherwise be landfilled in Canada and reduced incentives to export overseas. Canada's ratification of the Basel plastic waste amendments, along with the arrangement with the United States, mean that vulnerable countries can refuse to accept Canadian exports of plastic waste. It also fosters enhanced recycling in Canada and reduces plastic waste that can be sent to a landfill site in Canada.