1. Introduction

This paper summarizes the results of a national set of multi-stakeholder consultations on proposed reforms to the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste Regulations (EIHWR) hosted by Environment Canada (EC) during January and February of 2003. The purpose of these consultations was twofold:

• To present and obtain feedback on a fairly comprehensive set of proposed revisions to the current regulations for the export and import of hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials; and
• To discuss and refine options to address a small number of outstanding issues related to the new regulations for which Environment Canada does not yet have a detailed proposal.

These consultations and proposed regulatory reforms build on extensive consultations conducted by Environment Canada over the last two years. These have included:

• A preliminary set of national multi-stakeholder consultations on possible reform issues and options in the winter of 2000;
• National multi-stakeholder consultations on possible regulatory reforms in the winter of 2001-02; and
• Various bilateral and other discussions to review specific issues and options.

Environment Canada is developing the reforms to the EIHWR in parallel with the new Interprovincial Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations (Interprovincial Regulations) and the new Federal Hazardous Waste Regulations (FHWR). The Department has attempted to ensure as much harmonization as possible between the three regulations, and incorporated many of the provisions related to classification, documentation and permits of equivalent level of environmental safety (PELES) developed for the Interprovincial Regulations into the proposed reforms to the EIHWR. In addition, the environmentally sound management (ESM) concept is integrated into the FHWR. Where appropriate, some of the same concepts will be applied in the proposed regulations on the import and export of prescribed non-hazardous waste (PNHWR).