A/HRC/27/54 I. Introduction 1. In 1995, the Commission on Human Rights (superseded by the Human Rights Council) affirmed that the illicit traffic and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes constituted a serious threat to the human rights to life and health (resolution 1995/81). Accordingly, the Commission appointed a Special Rapporteur with a mandate to examine the human rights aspects of that issue. 2. In 2011, the Human Rights Council, at its eighteenth session, decided to strengthen and expand the scope of the mandate, affirming that the way hazardous substance and wastes were managed throughout their life cycle, including manufacturing, distribution, use and final disposal, may have an adverse impact on the full enjoyment of human rights (resolution 18/11). Accordingly, the title of the special rapporteur was changed to Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. 3. At its twenty-first session, the Council appointed Marc Pallemaerts as Special Rapporteur, and he took up the newly expanded mandate on 1 November 2012. However, due to the tragic loss of Mr. Pallemaerts in May 2014, following several months of poor health, a new special rapporteur had to be appointed. At its twenty-sixth session, the Council appointed Baskut Tuncak as the new Special Rapporteur. He assumed the mandate on 1 August 2014. 4. In view of his very recent appointment under extraordinary circumstances, in this first report to the Council, the Special Rapporteur provides a summary of the scope of the current mandate and presents a brief outline of the strategy and methodology that will inform his work to fulfil the mandate, so as to enable a dialogue with the Human Rights Council that will allow him to refine his plans and approach. II. Overview of the mandate A. Scope of the current mandate 5. In its resolution 21/17, the Human Rights Council tasked the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, with a mandate to provide information on: (a) The human rights issues raised by transnational corporations and other business enterprises in connection with the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; (b) The scope of national legislation relating to the human rights implications of the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; (c) The human rights implications of waste-recycling programmes and the transfer of polluting industries, industrial activities and technologies from one country to another and new trends therein, including e-waste and the dismantling of ships; (d) Support and assistance to victims of human rights violations relating to the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; (e) The ambiguities in international instruments that allow the movement and dumping of hazardous substances and wastes, and any gaps in the effectiveness of international regulatory mechanisms; 2