"The introduction of international treaties at the conference would alert the industry and the public," Cheng said.
At the conference, Jim Puckett, an anti-toxin activist of the Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN), will explain the Basel Convention on regulating cross-boundary shipment of toxic industrial waste, and the recently-signed Stockholm Treaty on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
BAN in 1999 successfully worked with local environmental groups in Taiwan to halt the shipment to the US of Formosa Plastic Group's (台塑集團) mercury-contaminated waste, which was previously rejected by Cambodia in late 1998.
"Incorporating foreign experiences might help us to prevent similar environmental dangers," Cheng said.
As an example, the US-based Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition will soon start working with local groups in Taiwan against the export of electronic products from the US and European countries to Taiwan for further treatment.
Processing electronic products will increase the environmental burden due to the toxic waste water and hazardous waste produced by the process.
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