Environmental groups dispute SBMA role in e-waste imports

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — An environmental coalition on Saturday challenged the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s (SBMA) decision to allow incoming electronic waste (e-waste) shipments from the US to enter this freeport.

The Environmental Task Force Against Illegal E-Waste Imports to the Philippines (END E-Waste Imports) argued that only the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) have the authority to determine whether the imports comply with Philippine law and the Basel Convention.

SBMA earlier told the Inquirer that it would allow non-hazardous electronic waste shipments already en route to the freeport to enter the country while it determines whether future shipments would still be accepted.

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While the SBMA exercises administrative jurisdiction over the freeport under Republic Act No. 7227, including the regulation of businesses operating within the economic zone, the task force argued that the determination of whether imported waste shipments comply with national environmental laws and the Basel Convention falls under the mandate of the BOC and DENR-EMB.

“The SBMA has no right to decide on whether or not imported wastes from the United States can be allowed to enter the country. That authority lies within the Bureau of Customs and Environmental Management Bureau, which are the competent authorities in handling waste trade under the Basel Convention,” the group said in a statement.

“It is unacceptable that a Regional Trial Court ruling has allowed the SBMA to keep violating international law with impunity,” it added.

The latest dispute comes after the coalition disclosed that 184 container vans of suspected illegal e-waste from the US are expected to arrive at this freeport between Aug. 6 and September.

According to the group, the information was based on a new Operation Can Opener alert issued by the Basel Action Network (BAN) on July 29 to the BOC and DENR-EMB.

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Jam Lorenzo, deputy executive director of BAN Toxics and one of the coalition’s conveners, said allowing the shipments into the country would add to what the group described as the SBMA’s continuing violations of the Basel Convention.

“SBMA’s stake in this issue is questionable as they have always been on the side of protecting the private business interests of the foreign recyclers. They have no right, and they are not credible enough to decide on matters of waste trade,” Lorenzo said.

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The coalition reiterated its position that e-waste shipments from the US—whether classified as hazardous or non-hazardous—are illegal because the US is not a party to the Basel Convention, while the Philippines is a signatory.

It cited Article 4(5) of the treaty, which states that parties shall not permit hazardous wastes or other wastes to be imported from or exported to non-party states. The same article also provides that illegal traffic in hazardous and other wastes is criminal.

Jim Puckett, founder and chief of strategic direction of the Basel Action Network, said the Philippines also adopted the Basel Convention’s E-Waste Amendment, which subjects all electronic waste to the treaty’s control mechanisms.

“The SBMA is still demonstrating that they do not comprehend the Basel Convention’s E-Waste Amendment,” Puckett said.

“Further, everything has to be done according to the Prior Informed Consent procedure, and none of these shipments coming into the Philippines have been consented to by the Basel competent authorities, which are the BOC and the DENR-EMB,” he added.

Puckett said allowing the entry of what the SBMA described as non-hazardous e-waste from the US would make the agency “complicit in criminal activity” because the shipments allegedly constitute illegal traffic under the Basel Convention.

The coalition also rejected claims made by e-waste recyclers operating in the freeport that the Basel Convention cannot prohibit imports without a law enacted by Congress.

According to the group, Republic Act No. 6969, or the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990, already provides the legal framework for regulating hazardous waste.

It added that the country’s obligations under the Basel Convention are implemented through DENR Administrative Order No. 2013-22, which incorporates the treaty’s provisions governing the import and export of hazardous waste and recyclable materials.

“The SBMA, in collusion with the recyclers, have consistently ignored our existing laws, regulations, and international obligations regarding waste trade. How can we trust them to decide on what should be allowed to enter our country?” Lorenzo said.

The task force called on the BOC and DENR-EMB to jointly inspect the incoming shipments and allow environmental groups to observe the inspection process “in the interest of transparency.”

It also renewed its appeal for Congress to act on House Resolution No. 1164, filed by the Makabayan bloc on June 29, seeking an investigation into the alleged illegal importation of e-waste through the freeport. /gsg