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DE RUEHSP #0409/01 2931340
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R 201340Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0075
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT OF SPAIN 000409 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SANTO DOMINGO FOR REGIONAL COMMERCIAL OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTIA PREL EIND ECIN EMIN EWWT ETRD ECON TD
 
SUBJECT: TRINIDAD SEEKS BILAT AGREEMENT ON SMELTER WASTE 
 
¶1. This is an action request for the Department.  Please see 
paragraph 3. 
 
¶2.  SUMMARY.  Post received a letter October 15 signed by the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and addressed to the Secretary 
requesting the conclusion of a bilateral agreement for the reception 
and treatment in the United States of waste to be generated from 
aluminum smelting in Trinidad and Tobago.  The FM stressed the 
urgency of the request during a conversation with the Charge on 
October 19.  GOTT attempts to develop an aluminum industry have 
faltered due to environmental and financing challenges, with a June 
2009 injunction halting construction on the Alutrint smelter project 
in the La Brea area of southern Trinidad.  The GOTT, nonetheless, 
appears committed to the project, and the desire to conclude a 
bilateral waste disposal agreement may represent a measure toward 
addressing environmental concerns.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3. ACTION REQUEST.  Post seeks guidance from Washington regarding 
the GOTT's request to conclude a bilateral agreement for the 
reception and treatment in the United States of aluminum smelting 
waste.  The text of the letter is as follows.  We have reprinted the 
text of the letter below, and forwarded to WHA/CAR the original 
letter by official pouch and a scanned copy via unclassified email. 
 
 
TEXT BEGINS 
 
-Conclusion of a bilateral agreement between Trinidad and Tobago and 
the United States of America for reception and treatment in the 
United States of Spent Potlining Waste to be generated from aluminum 
smelting in Trinidad and Tobago 
 
-Dear Madame Secretary, 
 
-I write to convey the keen interest of the Government of the 
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in entering into an agreement at the 
earliest opportunity with the Government of the United States of 
America relating to the conclusion and signature of a bilateral 
agreement between the two Governments on the transboundary movement 
and disposal of hazardous spent potlining wastes that will be 
generated from the scheduled introduction of an aluminum smelting 
industry in Trinidad and Tobago.  The aluminum smelter will be owned 
by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
-Currently, no suitable local disposal facilities exist in Trinidad 
and Tobago for the disposal of such hazardous wastes.  As such, this 
would necessitate the shipment of hazardous waste generated from the 
aluminum smelter industry in Trinidad and Tobago to disposal 
facilities in other countries such as the United States of America. 
The Basel convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of 
Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal ("the Convention"), to which 
Trinidad and Tobago is a Party and the United States a Signatory, 
regulates strictly the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes 
and imposed obligations on Parties to ensure that such wastes are 
managed in an environmentally sound manner, and it is in this regard 
that we urgently seek to conclude a bilateral agreement with the 
Government of the United States. 
 
-The Government of Trinidad and Tobago also considers that bilateral 
cooperation in this area through the proposed agreement on the 
treatment of spent potlining wastes in the United States would 
cement even further existing economic links between Trinidad and 
Tobago and the United States and would redound to the economic 
benefit of both countries, while permitting both States to act in 
accordance with the applicable provisions of the Convention. 
 
-The Government of Trinidad and Tobago also considers that bilateral 
cooperation in this area through the proposed agreement on the 
treatment of spend potlining wastes in the United States would 
cement even further existing economic links between Trinidad and 
Tobago and the United States and would redound to the economic 
benefit of both countries, while permitting both States to act in 
accordance with the applicable provisions of the Convention. 
 
-The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago looks forward 
to the maintenance of the high level of mutually beneficial 
cooperation that currently exists between the two Governments, as it 
seeks to diversify the Trinidad and Tobago economy and thereby 
transform Trinidad and Tobago into an even stronger economic partner 
of the United States in this region. 
 
-Your early reply in the affirmative to this proposal for the 
conclusion of a bilateral agreement between our two Governments 
would constitute an undertaking by the Governments of the Republic 
of Trinidad and Tobago and of the United States of America to enter 
into discussions at a mutually convenient time in the near future to 
conclude an agreement that sets out the procedure and modalities 
relating to the reception and treatment in the United States of 
spent potlining wastes derived from aluminum smelting operations in 
 
PORT OF SP 00000409  002 OF 002 
 
 
Trinidad and Tobago.  The modalities for the conclusion of the 
proposed agreement can be elaborated between the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and the Department of State. 
 
-I look forward with earnest to an early intimation of the 
willingness of the Government of the United States to enter into an 
agreement with the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago 
to permit the treatment in the United States of spent potlining from 
aluminum smelting operations in Trinidad and Tobago. 
 
-Please accept, Excellency, renewed assurances of my highest 
consideration and esteem. 
 
-Yours sincerely, 
 
-Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister 
 
TEXT ENDS 
 
KUSNITZ