Executive Summary of the consolidated Report of the Arab Countries Participating in the Cooperative Audit Task on Solid Waste Management and Recycling

Report ID: 380

Waste management is crucial for all countries around the world. It serves to find and effective and efficient system for mitigating any potential environmental risks resulting from the increasing amounts of different types of waste. The phenomenon of the increase in solid waste is spreading across some Arab countries and worldwide.

In 2017, the Executive Council of ARABOSAI mandated the participant Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) to prepare a cooperative report on “Performance Assessment of Solid Waste Management”. The SAIs of Kuwait, Oman, Palestine and Sudan agreed to carry out a performance audit on the efficiency and effectiveness of government entities responsible for the management and recycling of the solid waste in an efficient and effective manner.

The purpose of the audit was:

• To assess the efficiency and effectiveness of stakeholders with respect to their management of solid waste in the participant countries,
• Verifying the effectiveness of waste treatment and recycling programmes, as well as assessing the impact of such programs on reducing the adverse effects of using improper methods in dealing with waste particularly hazardous waste,
• Assessing how effective are the development projects pertaining to the solid waste management systems and the optimal utilization of waste constituents,
• Assess the actions taken by the entities concerned with waste management in order to reduce solid waste products and ensure optimal disposal and recycling of wastes in an efficient and effective manner.

Different audit methodologies were adopted by the participating countries. SAI Sudan and SAI Oman assessed the role of auditees in the management of solid waste. For example, SAI Kuwait evaluated projects related to the management of solid waste and risk management assessment on stakeholders. The SAI of Oman performed a KPI assessment to evaluate operating companies.

The consolidated report was prepared under the supervision of the Arab Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ARABOSAI).

Source: Kindly shared by ARABOSAI

Coordinated Audit on “Transboundary movements of waste in the light of the Basel Convention provisions” by the Supreme Audit Institutions of Poland, Slovak Republic and Ukraine (2nd Edition)

Report ID: 390

The European Union has incorporated the Basel Convention into the Waste Shipment Regulation. It applies automatically and uniformly in the Member States of the European Union without the need for transposition into national law. The regulation is binding to all Member States in its entirety.

In  2007, the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia carried out a cooperative audit on transboundary movement of waste between their countries on compliance of international obligations in the management of hazardous waste across the borders of their states.

Taking into consideration some changes in the provision and in order to assess the state of implementation of recommendations included in the first audit, as well as assessing the scope of compliance with the provisions of the “Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal”, the SAIs of Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine agreed to re-conduct the joint international audit within the activities of the EUROSAI Working Group on the Audit of Funds Allocated to Disasters and Catastrophes.

The Coordinator of the audit was the Supreme Audit Office of the Republic of Poland. Period covered by the audit 2015 – 2019 Audits were conducted in Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine in the second half of 2019.

The audit objective was to assess the reliability and effectiveness of activities carried out by authorities responsible for transboundary movements of wastes, including within the international cooperation, in particular: y national authorities competent for auditing procedures applied in transboundary movements of wastes; y national environmental protection authorities competent for auditing entities that dispatch or receive wastes from other countries; y national authorities, in particular border authorities, customs services etc., in the scope of auditing the compliance of the notified type of wastes with the actual content of cargo transported across the border.

Source: https://www.nku.gov.sk/documents/10272/1542112/Final+report+Pol-Slo-Ukr-Ang+2021+v7.pdf

The report of the first edition of the audit is available at:  https://intosai-cooperativeaudits.org/catalog/report/joint-information-on-the-results-of-transboundary-movement-of-waste-between-ukraine-the-republic-of-slovakia-and-the-republic-of-poland-2004-2007-in-the-light-of-the-basel-convention

The national report issued by SAI Slovakia on this second audit is available at: https://intosai-cooperativeaudits.org/catalog/report/2019-final-report-transboundary-movement-of-waste-according-to-basel-convention