WIREDGOV

New rules will improve UK's ability to deal with illegal waste exports

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (192/07) issued by The Government News Network on 21 June 2007

The range of powers available for controlling the export of waste from the UK has been widened by new regulations laid in Parliament this week.

The Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 set out offences and penalties, and designate the responsible enforcement authorities.

They extend the range of people against whom enforcement action can be taken to include any transporter, freight forwarder or any other person involved in the shipment of waste. Under the previous regulations enforcement action was restricted to the person who notified the shipment, or the person who should have notified it.

The new regulations strengthen the powers of the enforcement authorities by providing a wider range of tools, including the power to serve notices on operators to request compliance with controls. These include:

* Information notices, requiring further information on the destination of a shipment, or details of the waste;
* enforcement notices, requesting compliance with controls, and
* prohibition notices, prohibiting the movement of a shipment in breach of the controls.

Non-compliance with a notice will be an offence.

Authorities have also been given a power to seize waste, as a last resort in cases where there is an immediate risk to human health or the environment or where an operator is in breach, or looks likely to breach a notice.

A revised UK Plan on Shipments of Waste will be published shortly, setting out policies on the import and export of waste from the UK for disposal.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. The Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 (TFS) have been laid following wide consultation between December 2006 and March 2007.

2. The regulations are UK wide, and will come into force on 12 July. They replace the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994, and help to fully transpose the requirements of the European Community Regulation on shipments of waste - the Waste Shipments Regulation (EC/1013/2006).

3. The Waste Shipments Regulation (WSR) was revised in 2006 to take account of changes to the UN Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous waste and to a related OECD decision. The revised Regulation, which is in force throughout the EU, also applies from 12 July (O.J. 12.7.2006 L190/1).
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:190:SOM:EN:HTML

4. Key WSR changes include: more generic waste codes; simplified control procedure; one waste code per notification; introduction of concept of 'interim' recovery or disposal; inclusion of shipments of non-notifiable waste within scope of the Regulation; and requirement to ensure any waste shipped is dealt with and managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout the shipment and during recovery/disposal.

5. The TFS Regulations have been reviewed to reflect the changes. The review provided an opportunity to improve the prevention and detection of illegal shipments and improve the powers available to competent authorities for tackling illegal shipments. Draft regulations were issued for consultation on 18 December 2006 and the response was broadly favourable.

6. Key TFS changes include: extending liability for shipments to any one involved in the shipment; reducing regulatory burdens on supply of financial guarantees; strengthening the powers of the competent authorities and increasing the period for which HMRC can detain shipments from three to five days.

7. The consultation also sought views on possible options for green list waste such as a registration scheme for those making shipments of green list waste and reporting information about such shipments. Consultation responses were broadly favourable and Defra will be considering these options further in the longer term.

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