EU’s revised Waste
Shipment Regulation (WSR) 2024 provides a regulatory regime for the
transboundary movement of wastes imported to, transiting or exported from the
EU with a specific focus on its environmentally sound management. The revised
regulation, inter alia, expands coverage by including non-hazardous waste for
processing (in particular, scrap ferrous and non-ferrous metals) and discipline
exports to nonmembers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD). This paper views the regulation as a part of a series of
developments which warrant an examination of the interplay between WTO
disciplines and global environmental governance, especially against the
possibility of the operation of trade measures in the guise of selective
implementation of other international law treaties such as the Basel
Convention. We argue that the revised regulation aims to implement a selective
rendition of the Basel Convention, 1989, with a specific focus on its
traderelated aspects while impervious to developing states’ status and
capability. This paper particularly focuses on the discriminatory elements of
the regulation, its differential treatment, and operation as an
export-restrictive measure. This paper also suggests potential ways to address
a potential export prohibition that may emerge through these facets.