The Pacific Regional Centre set up to combat increasing levels of waste in the South Pacific will begin operations soon.
The centre, based at the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme headquarters in Samoa, will support the development of national legislation and provide technical guidelines to implement the Basel and Waigani Conventions.
Dr Jacques Mougeot, an environmental legal adviser at the centre, says officials need to finalise details with the Basel Convention secretariat before the centre can start operating.
Dr Mougeot says the centre's purpose is to help Pacific countries' comply with the regulations surrounding the environmental management of hazardous waste.
He says authorities have to develop adequate legislation of the management of hazardous waste, information and knowledge management, training for enforcement staff and training on reporting requirements.
