Bucharest Convention

The Bucharest Convention (also called the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution) is a framework convention and its three protocols that were adopted by Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution held in Bucharest on April 21-22, 1992.¹ The convention was ratified by the legislative assemblies of all six Black Sea nations, and the convention was entered into force in 1994. The Convention is the basic framework of agreement on three specific Protocols, which are:²

Land-Based Sources Protocol
Dumping Protocol
Emergency Response Protocol

The basic objective of the Bucharest Convention is to prevent and reduce the pollution in the Black Sea in order to protect and preserve the marine environment, and to provide a legal framework for cooperation and concerted actions to fulfill this obligation.³

Background

Map of the Black Sea Region

Source: Institute for Applied Science. Author: Unknown. Permission: Fair Use

The Black Sea is an inland body of water separated from the Aegean and Mediterranean seas by the Bosphorous Strait in Turkey. The sea is 168,495 square miles (436,400 sq km) in size and is bordered by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.⁴ Due to the large population centers surrounding the sea, combined with poor drainage, the Black Sea has long had problems with pollution.⁵

In 1992, the region's states met in Bucharest, Romania to discuss options for protecting the Black Sea from the harmful effects of industrial pollution. The two day meeting produced the framework convention and its three protocols. While the Bucharest Convention was adopted at the meeting by the six participating nations, the agreement could not be entered into force until it was ratified by four of the countries' legislatures.

Bulgaria was the first to ratify the convention in February 1993, ten months after the the conference in Bucharest. The next ratification, by Georgia, did not occur until six months later. Romania and Russia ratified the convention within a week of each other in November. With the fourth ratification, the process to enter the convention into force activated, doing so sixty day later on January 15, 1994. Turkey did not ratify until late March 1994. Ukraine was the last to ratify in mid-April. In the case of both Turkey and Ukraine, the convention entered into force immediately upon ratification.⁶

The Convention Framework

The Bucharest Convention is generally thought of as the whole agreement that was made in April 1992. However, the agreement is in fact a combination of the convention and the three protocols to the convention. The protocols lay out what pollutants and pollution sources should be regulated, as well as measures that should be taken in order to do so. The convention itself, formally named the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, creates a legal space in which the protocols may operate. It acknowledges the problem of pollution in the Black Sea and the need to reduce such pollution. Further, it acknowledges that the pollution is regional problem and therefore requires a regional approach to solving the problem.⁷

The convention establishes the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution for the purpose of overseeing the initiatives called for in the convention and its protocols. Rules and procedures are established for the Commission, including representation by one individual from each member country, with a rotating one-year chairmanship. The Commission must meet at least once a year, and decisions and recommendations made by the Commission must be adopted by all Convention-member nations.⁸

The Protocols

The Protocol on Marine Protection from Land-Based Sources and Activities sought to prevent, control and eliminate (as much as possible) land-based pollution and its damaging effects on the Black Sea ecosystem. The protocol states that countries shall adopt the precautionary principle with regard to the potential harm of any pollutant, as well as the polluter pays principle. It requires signatory countries to adopt national plans of action for source control measures, including emission controls, environmental quality standards, and timetables to achieve these goals. The protocol also calls for the formation of regional standards of practice for pollution control, including systems for monitoring, inspection and reporting. The annexes of the protocol list 30 industrial and agricultural areas of concern, as well as 20 categories of substances to be regulated.⁹

The Protocol on Marine Pollution Control in Emergency Situations, by far the shortest of the three, covers pollution due to oil spills and other accidental discharges of hazardous substances. The protocol requires members to the convention to establish guidelines to responding to such emergencies. It also requires countries to create reporting procedures and means of preventing spills.¹⁰

The Dumping Protocol regulated the manner in which substances could be disposed of into the Black Sea. The agreement called for the outright ban of dumping of hazardous substances, including (1) Organotin compounds, (2) Organohalogen compounds e. g. DDT, DDE, DDD, PCB's, (3) Persistent organophosphorus compounds, (4) Mercury and mercury compounds, (5) Cadmium and cadmium compounds, (6) Persistent substances with proven toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic ormutagenic properties, (7) Used lubricating oils, (8) Persistent synthetic materials which may float, sink or remain in suspension, (9) Radioactive substances and wastes, including used radioactive fuel, (10) Lead and lead compounds. The agreement required that the dumping of a second category, noxious substances, must be heavily regulated through the use of special permits. Dumping of all other waste would now require a general permit.¹¹

Footnotes

1. Convention on the Protection of the Black See Against the Pollution. The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution Permanent Secretariat.

2. "Bucharest Convention." GEF UNDP Black Sea Ecosystem Recovery Project. 9 Mar 2005.

3. Convention on the Protection of the Black See Against the Pollution. The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution Permanent Secretariat.

4. "Black Sea." World Atlas.com. Retrieved on: 28 Sept 2009.

5. need citation

6. A.E. Kideys. "International and regional frameworks for cooperation to improve the safety of navigation and environmental security in the Black Sea Basin – The Bucharest Convention." Presentation slides: 26 June 2008.

7. Convention on the Protection of the Black See Against the Pollution. The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution Permanent Secretariat.

8. Convention on the Protection of the Black See Against the Pollution. The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution Permanent Secretariat.

9. Protocol on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Black Sea from Land-Based Sources and Activities (1992). Protocols to the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution. The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution Permanent Secretariat.

10. Protocol on Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Black Sea Marine Environment by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Emergency Situations. (1992). Protocols to the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution. The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution Permanent Secretariat.

11. Protocol on the Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment Against Pollution by Dumping (1992). Protocols to the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution. The Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution Permanent Secretariat.