The agreement prepared by the United Nations Environmental Programme was adopted by participants of the 1989 conference which was convened in Bassel.

The agreement reflects the commitment of the international community to seeking collective solution to the problem and contains legal instruments and procedures regarding the disposal of toxic waste at the national and international level, it was stated.

More than 400 Mt. of toxic waste is released every year across the world and the agreement is a first step to reduce the amount of toxic waste released, control the movement and ensure that the way of disposal is not unfriendly to environmental safety, it was reported.

Signatories to the agreement since their first conference in 1989, have passed various decisions in their successive meetings in Uruguay (1992) and in Geneva (1995).