The find was the result of a check carried out by the The Inspectorate of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM Inspectorate) in collaboration with the Public Waste Company for the Flemish Region (OVAM) and the Antwerp harbour police. An official report is being drawn up against the Dutch waste dealers involved, and fines will be imposed. The checks will also be intensified. Joint checks carried out by the Dutch and Belgian enforcement agencies have uncovered a number of containers containing oil and CFC components from refrigerators and deep freezers destined for Nigeria. Containers of tar-containing underground cables destined for West Africa were also seized.

There are several European regulations prohibiting the export of those waste substances to Africa, due to lack of proper technical facilities. There is a high risk that the waste could enter the environment in an uncontrolled way, with all consequences that entails for human beings and the natural environment. The VROM Inspectorate has ordered the companies involved to take back the intercepted waste and have it processed in an environmentally responsible manner. In order to prevent repetition a system of fines has been introduced. An official report has also been drawn up. OVAM had suspected for some time that Dutch waste companies were avoiding the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam and diverting their export activities to the port of Antwerp.

In the future stringent checks will be carried out on transports which are suspected of containing waste substances and which are shipped via the port of Antwerp.