2005/51/EC: Commission Decision of 21 January 2005 authorising Member States temporarily to provide for derogations from certain provisions of Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of the importation of soil contaminated by pesticides or persistent organic pollutants for decontamination purposes (notified under document number C(2005) 92)
Date: 2005-01-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural land, import (EU), organic pollution, originating product, pesticide, waste management

25.1.2005

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L 21/21

COMMISSION DECISION

of 21 January 2005

authorising Member States temporarily to provide for derogations from certain provisions of
Council Directive 2000/29/EC in respect of the importation of soil contaminated by pesticides or
persistent organic pollutants for decontamination purposes

(notified under document number C(2005) 92)

(2005/51/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000
on protective measures against
the introduction into the
Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products
their spread within the Community (1), and in
and against
particular Article 15(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Under Directive 2000/29/EC, soil originating in certain
third countries may not, in principle, be introduced into
the Community.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) manages a programme on prevention and disposal
of obsolete and unwanted pesticides to assist developing
countries in identifying and eliminating obsolete pesticide
stockpiles and soil contaminated by these products due
to leakage. Moreover, two international
legally binding
instruments address the production, use and releases of
persistent organic pollutants and the safe management of
waste containing these substances, with the aim of
protecting human health and the environment
from
these
substances. Because developing countries and
countries with economies in transition do not always
have adequate facilities for the safe destruction or repro-
cessing of these stockpiles and contaminated soil, inter-
national agreements and programmes foresee shipment
of such soil to a treatment facility for processing or
destruction.

Under the aforementioned programme, soil should be
packaged and labelled in compliance with the Interna-
tional Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code),
using
containers.
Shipment should comply with the IMDG Code and

only United Nations

approved

Council Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 (2) on the super-
vision and control of shipments of waste within,
into
and out of the European Community.

soil

there is no risk of
The Commission considers that
to plants or plant
spreading organisms harmful
in dedicated
treated
products when the
is
hazardous waste
incinerators, which comply with
Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council (3) on the incineration of waste, in such
a way as to ensure that the pesticide or persistent organic
pollutant content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed.

Member States should therefore be authorised to provide
to
for derogations,
specific
such
contaminated soil.

for a limited period and subject

to allow the

import of

conditions,

The authorisation to provide for derogations should be
terminated if it is established that the specific conditions
laid down in this Decision are not sufficient to prevent
the
into the
introduction of harmful organisms
Community or have not been complied with.

The measures provided for
accordance with
Committee on Plant Health,

the

in this Decision are in
Standing
the

of

opinion

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Member States are hereby authorised to provide for derogations
from Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/29/EC, with regard to the
prohibitions referred to in point 14 of Annex III(A) to that
Directive, and from Article 5(1) of Directive 2000/29/EC with
regard to the special requirements referred to in point 34 of
Annex IV(A)(I) to that Directive for soil originating in certain
third countries.

(1) OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1. Directive as

last amended by
Commission Directive 2004/102/EC (OJ L 309, 6.10.2004, p. 9).

(2) OJ L 30, 6.2.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission
Regulation (EC) No 2557/2001 (OJ L 349, 31.12.2001, p. 1).

(3) OJ L 332, 28.12.2000, p. 91.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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The authorisation to provide for derogations, as mentioned in
paragraph 1 shall be subject to the specific conditions provided
for in the Annex, and shall only apply to soil that is introduced
into the Community between 1 March 2005 and 28 February
2007 and destined for treatment in dedicated hazardous waste
incinerators.

The authorisation is without prejudice to any further authori-
sation or procedures which may be required under other legis-
lation.

Article 2

Member States shall provide the Commission and the other
Member States, before 31 December of each year of impor-
tation, with the information as required in point 7 of
the
Annex for each consignment of soil
imported prior to that
date pursuant to this Decision.

Article 3

immediately notify the Commission and
Member States shall
the other Member States of all consignments introduced into

their territory pursuant
quently found not to comply with this Decision.

to this Decision which were subse-

Article 4

This Decision may be revoked if the conditions set out in the
Annex are shown to be insufficient to prevent the introduction
into the Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant
products.

Article 5

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 21 January 2005.

For the Commission

Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

Specific conditions applying to soil originating in third countries benefiting from the derogation provided for in
Article 1 of this Decision

1.

The soil shall be:

(a) soil contaminated by pesticides covered by the FAO programme on prevention and disposal of obsolete and
unwanted pesticides or similar multilateral programmes, or soil contaminated with persistent organic pollutants
listed in the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants or in the Protocol to the 1979 Convention
on long-range trans-boundary air pollution on persistent organic pollutants;

(b) packaged in sealed drums or bags in compliance with the IMDG Code, transported in sealed shipping containers
from the packaging site in the country of origin to the treatment facility located in the Community in
compliance with Regulation (EEC) No 259/93;

(c)

intended to be treated in the Community in dedicated hazardous waste incinerators, which comply with
Directive 2000/76/EC.

The soil shall be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in the country of origin in accordance with
Article 13(1)(ii) of Directive 2000/29/EC. The certificate shall state under ‘Additional declaration’, the indication ‘This
consignment meets the conditions laid down in Decision 2005/51/EC’.

Prior to introduction into the Community, the importer shall be officially informed of the conditions laid down in
points 1 to 7 of this Annex. The said importer shall notify details of each introduction sufficiently in advance to the
responsible official bodies in the Member State of introduction, indicating:

(a)

the quantity and the origin of the soil;

(b) the declared date of introduction and the confirmation of the point of entry in the Community;

(c)

the names, addresses and the locations of the premises referred to in point 5 where the soil will be treated.

The importer shall inform the official bodies concerned of any changes to the above details as soon as they are
known.

The soil shall be introduced through points of entry situated within the territory of a Member State and designated
for the purpose of this derogation by that Member State; these points of entry and the name and address of the
responsible official body referred to in Directive 2000/29/EC in charge of each point shall be notified sufficiently in
advance by the Member States to the Commission and shall be held available on request to other Member States.
Direct transport between the point of entry and the place of treatment must be assured. In those cases where the
introduction into the Community takes place in a Member State other than the Member State making use of this
derogation, the said responsible official bodies of the Member State of introduction shall inform and cooperate with
the said responsible official bodies of the Member States making use of this derogation to ensure that the provisions
of this Decision are complied with.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The soil shall be treated only at premises:

(a)

for which the names, addresses and the locations have been notified in accordance with point 3 to the relevant
responsible official bodies; and

(b) officially registered and approved for the purposes of this derogation by the relevant responsible official bodies.

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In those cases where the premises are situated in a Member State other than the Member State making use of this
derogation, the said responsible official bodies of the Member State making use of this derogation, at the moment of
receipt of the aforementioned advance notification from the importer, shall
inform the said responsible official
bodies of the Member State in which the soil will be treated giving the names, addresses and the locations of the
premises where the soil will be treated.

6.

At the premises referred to in point 5:

(a)

the soil shall be handled as hazardous waste with all the appropriate safeguards applied; and

(b) the soil shall be treated in dedicated hazardous waste incinerators, which comply with Directive 2000/76/EC.

7.

The Member State making use of this derogation shall convey the details referred to in point (3)
introduction on a yearly basis to the Commission and the other Member States.

for each