SHIPMENT OF SCRAP AND RECYCLABLES
TO, FROM, WITHIN EU-27 - NEW PAPERS
WARNING: Please note that this regulation only applies to commercial firms which are registered in a EU member state. Non-EU registered companies are not affected by the interpretations from the EU Authorities of the NON-OECD countries answers. What is for instance submitted to control/ban when shipped from the EU is not necessary submitted to controls when shipped from other non-EU countries such as the US, Japan, etc...
New EU Waste Shipment
Regulations bite
The EU Waste Shipment Regulation (EC) N° 1013/2006 has been in force (as from 12 July 2007) together with a new Commission Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 that replaces Commission Regulation (EC) No 801/2007 concerning the shipment of recyclables from the EU-27 to non-OECD Countries.
New Guidelines
New advisory papers are here to read if they apply to the waste you
intend to ship, for example Guidelines that are not legally binding but
that give the common understanding of the EU Member States on how
Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 should be interpreted, see: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/shipments/guidance.htm
Resources
Each EU-27 Member State will have a Government Ministry or Agency
dealing with the Waste Shipment Regulations. Persons that arrange
shipments are advised to seek out the website of their relevant
national body for an explanation of their national implementation of
the new Regulations, such as the websites for:
If YOU find a useful EU-27 Member State
Government or Agency website for the Waste Shipment Regulation - please
e-mail its coordinates to bir@bir.org
However we advise caution in using other Country websites as
nationalist interpretations may vary. First check your own Government's
advise against the Regulation since the Regulation may be ambiguous, if
the Regulation is not clear on the matter then that issue may be
interpreted differently by other Member States, clearly important if
your shipment may transit other Member States.
Besides nationalist distortions which will start with a wide variation
in implementation from 12th July, companies arranging shipments cannot
be complacent as their shipments may transit Member State at each
extreme, from those that haven't implemented anything to those Member
States that desire to fully implement these new Regulations.
For those who
arrange shipments of wastes there is no substitute to reading the
Regulation. The text of the Regulation may be downloaded from the
website http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/shipments/legis.htm
ON
EU-Exports of non-Hazardous Wastes for Recovery to non-OECD Countries
- new Regulation welcomed, still silence from certain non-OECD countries penalised -
The new Commission Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 has replaced Commission Regulation (EC) No 801/2007.
The non-hazardous wastes (recyclables) affected by this new Regulation include iron and steel scrap, copper scrap, paper, second-hand clothing. These are feedstocks for industry, and in industrial countries comprise nearly 50% of industrial infeed. Most of these materials are positively priced which means that if a company does not purchase them they do not get them and they are not exported to the country where they might be required by industry.
The new regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 4 December and entered into force on 18th December. However, to cover the cases where a waste is subjected to the procedure of prior written notification and consent for the first time, having been subject to no control in Regulation (EC) No 801/2007, a transition period of 60 days from 18th December was put in place. This transitional period applies in practice to certain wastes exported from the EU-27 to Argentina, Belarus, India and the Russian Federation.
The new Commission Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 records the responses of non-OECD countries as to whether they wish to ban the import of non-hazardous recyclables (termed wastes in the legislation) or allow import under control of prior notification and written consent or allow import under normal commercial transactions. Non-OECD Countries that did not reply face all imports of recyclables from the EU-27 being subject to controls which in practice hamper trade and in cases where the non-OECD country Governments are poorly functioning de-facto prevent trade as agreement on a case-by-case basis is not achievable. The shipments of non-hazardous wastes to the Countries that have not replied will be by 'Prior written notification and consent' arranged through the respective EU-27 Competent Authority. The list of EU-27 Competent Authorities is given here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/shipments/pdf/list_competent_authorities.pdf .
Download Regulation 1418/2007 here in English; German; French.
- What can be done in cases where country responses, or lack of responses hinder trade?
The key to opening trade with the EU-27 is in the hands of the non-OECD Country Governments, they should know what industry is within their national jurisdiction and what non-hazardous recyclables those industries may need. If they do not know, their industry needs to talk to their Government representatives. Exporting companies in the EU-27 need to inform their customers in the non-OECD Countries of this EU Regulation, so that their customers are informed that they should speak to their national governments. The Governments, through their missions may respond to the EU Commission DG Trade at any time to revise their current position.
ON
Annex VII, confidentiality issues
BIR and its EU sister Federations have made as many language versions
of Annex VII available as practicable. If you are arranging a shipment
of waste, such as non-hazardous waste and scrap or laboratory samples,
that require accompanying information in the form of Annex VII,
download your language version (in pdf form or as an MSWord Document)
from here: http://www.bir.org/annexviifiles/annexvii_forms.html. BIR and its EU sister Federations have a number
of webpages explaining the problems of Annex VII exposing confidential
business information, and explaining some solutions. Notwithstanding
the years of opposition to Annex VII, opposition which certain buyers
still undermine for commercial reasons, Annex VII is a requirement of
the Regulation and those persons that arrange shipments of waste are
strongly advised to read the Regulation's Annex VII related Articles
(start at Art.18).
Requirement of a Contract for non-hazardous
waste transactions
Art.18(2) requires that a contract be in place for non-hazardous waste
transactions. Art.18(2) states:
"The contract referred to in Annex VII between the
person who arranges the shipment and the consignee for recovery of the
waste shall be effective when the shipment starts and shall include an
obligation, where the shipment of waste or its recovery cannot be
completed as intended or where it has been effected as an illegal
shipment, on the person who arranges the shipment or, where that person
is not in a position to complete the shipment of waste or its recovery
(for example, is insolvent), on the consignee, to:
(a)
take the waste back or ensure its recovery in an alternative way; and
(b) provide, if necessary, for its storage
in the meantime. The person who arranges the shipment or the consignee
shall provide a copy of the contract upon request by the competent
authority concerned."
As this Article cannot be transposed directly as it is written into a
contact, it needs rephrasing, here we suggest how....
Contract
The following contractual elements takes effect
when the shipment starts. Where the shipment of waste or its recovery
cannot be completed as intended or where it has been effected as an
illegal shipment, the person who arranges the shipment or, where that
person is not in a position to complete the shipment of waste or its
recovery (for example, is insolvent), the consignee, agrees to:
(a) take the waste back or ensure its recovery in
an alternative way; and (b) provide, if necessary, for its storage in
the meantime. The person who arranges the shipment or the consignee
shall provide a copy of the contract upon request by the competent
authority concerned.
Signature of the person who arranges the shipment
Date.
Signature of the consignee for recovery of the waste
Date.
ends