The Philippines

The Philippine government confirmed on the 26th that because Canada has been delaying the settlement of its garbage problem in the Philippines, the Philippine side has ordered the suspension of all public officials’ visits to Canada this week.

The spokesperson of the President of the Philippines Salvador Panello issued a statement on the same day that the Executive Minister of the Philippine Government Salvador Mediadea issued an internal memorandum on the 20th, stipulating that “all government departments, state-owned enterprises and government-funded institutions shall be responsible People are no longer allowed to approve officials and staff under their management to go to Canada for official visits. At the same time, “all government departments must reduce their official contacts with the Canadian government.”

　　Panelo said that the reason for signing this memorandum was Canada's delay in transporting back a batch of garbage that had been in the Philippines for nearly six years.

　　The dispute between the two countries over this batch of garbage has intensified recently. Between 2013 and 2014, a Canadian company exported 103 containers of garbage to the Philippines. The containers were labeled with recyclable plastics. The Philippines has processed 34 containers of garbage, and 69 containers are still stranded in Philippine ports.

　　 The Philippine Customs said that the inspection found that there were only a small amount of recyclable plastic in the 69 containers, and a large amount of them were electronic product waste and kitchen waste. The Philippine side accused Canada of violating the Basel Convention and repeatedly urged Canada to return this batch of garbage.

　　 Philippine President Duterte announced in April this year that May 15 is the deadline. However, due to Canada's failure to return the garbage on time, the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on May 16 the recall of a number of Philippine diplomats in Canada, including the ambassador. The Presidential Palace of the Philippines recently stated that in view of Canada’s repeated delays, the Philippines has decided to rent a vessel to send the garbage back to Canada. The Canadian side subsequently promised to remove the stranded garbage before the end of June, but the Philippines refused, and the Philippines insisted on "repatriating" the garbage on its own.