WRITTEN QUESTION No. 462/99 by Peter SKINNER Export of hazardous waste in the form of obsolete ships
Date: 1999-02-23
Institutions: European Parliament, SKINNER
Subjects: dangerous substance, environmental monitoring, environmental protection, export monitoring, export of waste, metal waste, public health, vessel, waste disposal

C 325/116

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

12.11.1999

(1999/C 325/161)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0462/99

by Peter Skinner (PSE) to the Commission

(23 February 1999)

Subject: Export of hazardous waste in the form of obsolete ships

Does the Commission agree that dangerous waste in the form of obsolete ships, containing substances such as
asbestos, should not be exported to countries with less stringent safeguards in order to avoid costs?

Would the Commission consider it appropriate to use such controls or legislation as exist to curtail this trade
to other countries by companies which operate inside the EU?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 1999)

The export of wastes outside the Community is governed by Council Regulation (EEC) 259/93 on the
supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the Community, as amended (1). The
export of obsolete ships for breaking up is governed by the Regulation to the extent that the ship in question
constitutes waste. Generally speaking, a ship constitutes waste from the moment that the intention of the
owner is not to use it as a ship anymore, but to export it to another country for breaking up.

The Regulation, which transposes the provisions of the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary
movements of hazardous wastes and their safe disposal, prohibits the export to non-Organisation for
economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries of hazardous wastes listed in an Annex to the
Regulation. Ships for breaking up are not explicitly listed in this Annex, but according to the terms of this
Annex, the fact that a waste is not listed in the Annex, does not preclude,
its
characterisation as hazardous and therefore subject to the export ban.

in exceptional cases,

All ships destined for demolition are subject to notification and control requirements established under the
Regulation with regard to any cargo residues and other hazardous substances resulting from the operation of
the ship such as oily slops. In such cases, under the Regulation, the export has to be notified and authorised by
the authorities of the countries of dispatch, transit and destination before it can take place. In that context, it
should also be noted that the underlying condition for export of waste is that the treatment in the country of
destination must be environmentally sound. This principle is recognised in the Basel Convention.

To summarise, therefore, there is a binding legal framework in place in the Community which subjects these
cases to tight control and supervision procedures.

The Commission is fully aware of the environmental and health problems occurring in third countries where
ships are scrapped. There is also a real need for an efficient ship-scrapping industry in order to remove sub-
standard ships from the oceans, which in themselves pose a serious environmental threat.

(1) OJ L 30, 6.2.1993.

(1999/C 325/162)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0466/99

by Georg Jarzembowski (PPE) to the Commission

(5 March 1999)

Subject: Abandoned building project for a further training centre in Agios Dimitrios, Pelion, Greece

Work began on the construction of a further training centre, the EKTA (WZLS) building, for the local authority
in Agios Dimitrios/Pelion, province of Magnesia in 1994. According to the signboards at the site, the
‘Community budget’ is funding the project, to the value of some DM 40 million (GRD 600 000 000). However,
once the foundations had been laid, the project was halted in 1995, since when the condition of the site has
deteriorated and building materials have been unlawfully removed.