COLOMBO (News 1st): The Government of Sri Lanka is focusing on filing a complaint with the Basel Secretariat with regard to the ‘Agricultural Plant Waste’ imported to the country from Ukraine, the Ministry of Environment said on Friday (Dec. 25).

The “Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal” usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations.

Subject Minister Mahinda Amaraweera has instructed Secretary to the Ministry, Dr. Anil Jasinghe to file a complaint with the Basel Secretariat over the 28 freight containers of “Agricultural Plant Waste” imported the country from Ukraine in the guise of ‘Corriander Seeds,’ the Ministry of Environment in a media statement.

The importation of waste from one country to another is a violation of the Basel Convention, and Sri Lanka is also a signatory to the convention.

There exists a risk of harmful components entering Sri Lanka’s eco-system through such foreign waste, Minister Amaraweera said.

Thereby, the Minister emphasized that measures will be taken to re-export the full consignment of waste material back to Ukraine.

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