The UN Basel Convention entered into force on 5th May 1992 as part of the United Nations Environment Programme in response to the OECD Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste Regulations brought about by the international outrage at the mountains of toxic waste that had been dumped in third world countries for the last two decades. The Convention has 117 signatories with 149 countries having ratified it.

It sets the guidelines for where you are allowed to export hazardous waste to and when, for example the waste must be sent to an adequate disposal facility that can deal with the waste in an environmentally sound manner and only when certain criteria have been met, such as the permission of the importing country to the shipment of the hazardous waste.

Article 11 of the Basel Convention states that Green-listed waste must carry a minimum of information during its transit, specifically a delivery note, dangerous goods note and labels stating the contents of the containers and the level of hazard that it carries.

However, Amber-listed waste is subject to the full force of the Basel Convention Transfrontier Shipment of Waste control system where Notification, tracking and full auditing, particularly with a view to its environmentally sound management and complete recycling, must be undertaken.