The international agreement to regulate hazardous waste trading, the Basel
Convention, has relied on the procedure of prior informed consent (PIC) to
ensure that human health and the environment are protected. As the debate
over banning such trade continues, and as a new agreement using PIC for the
trade in hazardous chemicals is being negotiated, it is useful to ask how effective
the PIC mechanism has been. This article outlines how PIC functions in theory
and in practice, and examines data on the notification and response rates of
hazardous waste trade proposals. After outlining the experiences and draw backs of the PIC mechanism for hazardous wastes, several lessons regarding
the use of PIC for hazardous chemicals are suggested.
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