A/HRC/12/26 page 21 Special Rapporteur considers that in order to minimize the transboundary movement of toxic substances contained on board end-of-life ships, stronger stipulations as to the decontamination requirements prior to dismantling should have been made in the IMO Convention; (c) There is no provision in the Convention calling for the gradual phase-out of the “beaching” method and a move towards alternative methods of shipbreaking. While acknowledging that an immediate ban on the “beaching” method or the closing of the yards in South Asian countries would not represent a viable option, since shipbreaking is an important source of income for the countries concerned and provides jobs for many workers, the Special Rapporteur shares the views expressed by several NGOs that the dismantling of vessels on tidal beaches fails to comply with generally accepted norms and standards aimed at ensuring the protection of workers and the environment from the adverse effects caused by the discharge of hazardous materials present on end-of-life vessels into the environment;24 (d) The Convention does not contain any provision for a ship-recycling fund or an alternative financing mechanism to help ship-recycling facilities improve their recycling standards and thus comply with the Convention’s requirements. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur notes with regret that a proposal for the establishment of a ship-recycling fund was rejected during the negotiations that led to the adoption of the new Convention. With the exception of cases where grants, loans or technical assistance is provided, the costs for improving human health and environmental protection will thus be borne by the ship-recycling facilities themselves; (e) The new Convention stipulates that wastes generated from recycling activities should only be transferred to a waste-management facility authorized to deal with their treatment and disposal in an environmentally sound manner. However, there are no provisions in the Convention to ensure that waste dispatched to downstream facilities is traceable, thereby enabling verification of its proper handling, treatment and ultimate disposal. The Special Rapporteur notes that the Basel Convention emphasizes the importance of traceability of waste until its final disposal, so as to ensure that waste is managed in accordance with the principle of environmentally sound management; (f) While the preamble refers to the need to promote the substitution of hazardous materials in the construction and maintenance of ships by less hazardous or non-hazardous materials, no provision is included in the Convention to require parties to use less hazardous materials wherever they are available; (g) The Convention provides that ship-recycling States are required to approve ships that will be recycled within their jurisdiction. Such a determination will be made by review of the inventory of hazardous materials and the ship-specific ship-recycling plan, to ensure that the capabilities of the recycling facility match the ship to be recycled. However, ship-recycling States may opt out of an explicit approval procedure of each ship-recycling plan (and essentially 24 NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, OFF THE BEACH! Safe and green dismantling, 2009.