Through the Decree 392 / 2023, the National Executive Branch has intervened to regulate the import of valued hazardous waste. This is referenced in Law 23.922, which approved the Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, signed in the City of Basel on March 22, 1989.
The Basel Convention has determined the regulation on certain waste and after its legislative approval, through Law 24.051, the matters relating to the generation, handling, transportation, treatment and final disposal of hazardous waste were regulated, and the definition of hazardous waste and the procedure for its identification were established there.
Within the framework of this process, Law 2004 on the Comprehensive Management of Household Waste was passed in 25.916, establishing the minimum environmental protection requirements for the comprehensive management of said waste.
In the year 2020, Resolution 56 of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development was issued, creating the Circular Economy Technical Working Table within the orbit of the Secretariat for Environmental Control and Monitoring of that jurisdiction, for the Treatment of waste related to paper and cardboard, scrap metal, plastic, glass and rubber, among others, in order to generate a space tending towards the articulation, design and implementation of actions, regulations, plans, projects and/or programs within the framework of the budgets of the circular economy and the commitment to sustainable development. The work of the so-called "Urban Recyclers" of waste materials has also been taken into consideration.
With all this, and in order to regulate the import of waste, the Executive Branch has considered it necessary to establish a framework of restrictions and promote the use of non-hazardous waste from the Argentine Republic, with the exception of those that are not native or sufficient to supply such use.
To this end, it has determined, by means of this Decree, restrictions on the import of non-hazardous waste recovered in order to promote the use of waste available in Argentina, which can be used for production processes. In addition, and to better comply with this, in art. 2 of the operative part of the Decree, a definition is established on such materials, Non-hazardous waste is considered to be recovered waste that, although not covered by the national regulations on hazardous waste, has been subjected to a recovery operation, understood as the procedure that allows the use of the resources contained in the waste, through recycling in its physical, chemical, mechanical or biological forms, and its reuse.
In turn, Article 5 establishes that it prohibits the introduction and importation into the country, the Special Customs Area and the Free Trade Areas created or to be created, including their air and maritime spaces., of all types of waste, with the exception of non-hazardous waste that has been recovered and can be used as input for a specific production process or as a product for direct use and that cannot be supplied by the existing supply at the national level.
The implementing authorities will be the Ministries of the Environment and the Economy.
Article 8 of the Decree sets out the requirements to be met for the import and transit of non-hazardous waste.
Finally, it is determined that this Decree will enter into force on the day following its publication and will apply to all requests for importing waste that are made from the fifth day of the publication in the Official Gazette of the complementary Joint Resolution issued by the Enforcement Authorities.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
