The Basel Convention was originally designed to prevent the uncontrolled dumping of toxic waste and focused particularly on shipments of materials from OECD countries to the developing world. Amendments to the Basel Convention now restrict trade in waste materials destined for recycling, reprocessing and reuse. There are serious consequences for the secondary lead industry and the world community if the regulations prohibit the environmentally sound reprocessing of scrap batteries. It is incumbent on the industry to understand the implications of the recent and proposed amendments, and to address the potential problems posed by the legislation.