Waste Ban Accord Reported Near

Many of the world’s nations are nearing agreement on an international treaty to control the export of hazardous waste, U.N. Undersecretary General Mostafa Tolba said early today.

The conference worked late Tuesday night trying to hammer out acceptable language for such a treaty but differences remained. It was unclear whether a treaty could be signed today as expected.

The treaty is aimed at banning the export of hazardous waste--which can cause cancer and birth defects--to countries that are not equipped to handle it properly.

Tolba, speaking after two days of intensive ministerial-level negotiations that followed 18 months of talks, told Reuters news agency that he hoped the 116 nations present would adopt the convention by consensus later today. But a number of nations indicated nothing could be signed until delegates could show the documents to their governments.