WRITTEN QUESTION E-0333/01

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(13 February 2001)

Subject: Shipments of toxic waste

Independent insurance brokers which insure vessels and freight have forwarded reports to the international shipping community warning that crews must be particularly vigilant about the materials they receive from Russian ports, because Russia is endeavouring to export toxic waste by sea. The information states that shipments of iron ore loaded on commercial vessels in Russian ports include decommissioned military materials which have not been controlled or classified. Is the Commission aware of this? If so, what measures does it intend to take to remedy the situation?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(30 March 2001)

The Commission takes note of the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member in relation to this issue. Shipment of waste into the Community must be controlled in accordance with the legal provisions in place at national, Community and international levels. The Community does have specific legislative measures which oblige Member States and persons directly connected with the import of waste into the Community to refrain from engaging in uncontrolled and illicit trafficking of hazardous as well as non-hazardous waste materials.

As far as the importation from Russia of non-nuclear waste into the Community is concerned, the relevant Community legislation which deals with this issue is principally Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 of 1 February 1993 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the Community(1). The Regulation contains a number of obligations binding on Member States and persons in possession or in legal control of such waste imported into the Community, as set out in particular in Articles 19-22. These include duly notifying the Member State authorities and ensuring that shipments may only be executed in the absence of objections of those authorities. Any shipment carried out without due notification to or consent from the authorities constitutes illegal trafficking (Article 26). Member States also have specific duties to ensure that illegally imported waste is disposed of or recovered in an environmentally sound manner (Article 26(3)-(4)) and must prohibit import of waste into their juridictions for disposal if they have reason to believe that the waste will not be managed in an environmentally sound manner (Article 19(4)). In addition, under Article 30 of Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 Member States are obliged to take the necessary measures to ensure that waste is shipped in accordance with the requirements set out under the Regulation.

Decommissioned military materials mentioned in the question could also be material which contains or is contaminated by radionuclides and for which no use is foreseen. It would then be regarded as radioactive waste. As far as shipments of radioactive waste into the Community are concerned, Council Directive 92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community(2) imposes specific obligations on Member States in this context. In particular, Member States are required to ensure that the authorisation procedures under Article 10 of the Directive are complied with, which means that the consignee must apply for authorisation from the Member State of destination.

If the Commission is presented with evidence that any of the Community rules have been contravened, it reserves the right to take appropriate action, which may include initiating infringement proceedings against Member States under Article 226 (ex-Article 169) of the EC Treaty and/or Article 141 of the Euratom Treaty.

(1) OJ L 30, 6.2.1993.

(2) OJ L 35, 12.2.1992.