Under JPEPA, no export of hazardous wastes to Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Will signing the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) give Japan carte blanche to export its toxic and other hazardous wastes to the Philippines? No. The fact that with JPEPA the Philippines imposes zero tariffs on wastes from Japan (and vice versa) is immaterial, because Philippine laws and regulations — in particular Republic Act 6969 (“An Act to Control Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes, Providing Penalties for Violations thereof…” — prohibits such importation, and so does the Basel Convention, or the Convention on the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

But to dispel any lingering doubts, there was an Exchange of Notes between Foreign Secretary Alberto G. Romulo and Japan Foreign Minister Taro Aso that said precisely that. Last May 22, Romulo sent Aso a note to confirm the understanding that “Japan would not be exporting toxic wastes to the Philippines, as defined under the laws of the Philippines and Japan, in accordance with the Basel Convention … and that provisions related to this topic in the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement do not prevent the adoption or enforcement of such measures under existing and future national laws, rules and regulations of the Philippines and Japan. It would be opportune receiving confirmation from your side to put to rest the concerns raised on this subject in the JPEPA….”

To which Aso replied (on May 27): “I am pleased to confirm the statement and commitment of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Japan would not be exporting toxic wastes to the Philippines, as defined and prohibited under the laws of the Philippines and Japan, in accordance with the Basel Convention, and the understanding that provisions related to this topic in the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement do not prevent the adoption or enforcement of such measures under existing and future national laws, rules and regulations of the Philippines and Japan.”

How much clearer can one get?

And apparently, such an Exchange of Notes, as quoted in part above, constitutes “agreement” under international law — it is deemed to be a supplemental agreement between the parties regarding their interpretation of the JPEPA and the application of its provisions vis-à-vis the Basel Convention and present and future environmental laws and regulations. Which can be taken to mean, one supposes, that there is no impediment to having other supplemental agreements regarding interpretations of other JPEPA provisions.

It is to be hoped that the foregoing will stop once and for all the use of an environmental threat to derail the JPEPA, or at least reassure those who have succumbed to the scare tactics.

But there are always going to be the hard-core doubting Thomases. In their case, maybe a concrete example — recounted by our Ambassador to Japan Dominador “Jun” Siazon Jr. — of how Japan takes its obligations in this regard seriously may do the trick, although, as they say, no one is more difficult to awaken than the person who is not really sleeping. Why Ambassador Siazon? Because the incident about to be narrated happened during his watch as secretary of foreign affairs (under Joseph Estrada).

The reader may recall that sometime in August 1999, 92 40-footer container vans arrived at the Manila Container Port aboard MV Ming Champion. The contents of the vans, weighing over 2,000 tons, were shipped by Nisso Corp. (based in Tochigi, Japan) and consigned to Shinsei Enterprises, Intramuros, Manila, with Macondray Carrier as cargo agent. Their contents were declared as waste papers and plastics for recycling.

But upon examination by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the vans were found to contain instead substantial amounts of discarded intravenous syringes (used in blood-letting and dextrose), used adult diapers, sanitary napkins, hospital apparatus, garments, bandages, electronic equipment and PVC plastics. This is in contravention of both the Basel Convention and RA 6969.

Whereupon we threw the book at Japan, figuratively speaking, albeit after a four-month delay. Siazon, as foreign secretary, sent a formal notification to the Japanese ambassador to the Philippines, requesting Japan to take the necessary steps to ensure that the waste materials be taken back to Japan, also as specified by the Basel Convention. And Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonio Cerilles also wrote the secretariat of the Basel Convention in Geneva and the Japanese government, requesting remedial action from them.

The long and short of it is that Japan had the container vans and their waste contents shipped back to Japan. But that is not the end of it. After investigation by police from the Prefectures of Nagano and Tochigi, criminal charges were brought against Nisso Corp., its chair (Katsuhiro Mizuguchi) and president (Hiromi Itoh) for violation of Japan’s (emphasis mine) waste processing and cleaning law, foreign exchange and foreign trade law, and customs law.

Apparently Mizuguchi fled Japan, but was extradited from Cambodia, and arrested upon his arrival in Tokyo in September 2000. He was sentenced to four years in jail, as was Itoh, who also had to pay a 5-million yen fine. In addition, Nisso Corp. was fined 15 million yen.

Does that sound like Japan is taking us lightly? But, alas, I haven’t a clue as to what happened to the local importer and the cargo agent.–Solita Collas-Monsod, Inquirer