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International Environmental Reporter, Vol. 22 Number 15

In its Regulation No. 1547/1999, the EU adopted Annexes VIII and IX to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Official Journal of the European Communities, July 17, 1999, No. L 185).

The annexes relate to earlier decisions by parties to the convention to adopt an amendment prohibiting all exports of hazardous wastes for disposal from industrialized nations that are members of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to non-OECD nations (INER Reference File 1, 21:3701). Parties to the treaty also agreed that a similar ban on hazardous wastes intended for recycling should be imposed from January 1, 1998.

The European Parliament April 13 voted to approve the EU's adoption of the annexes, which also relate to the OECD's green, amber, and red lists of wastes (22 INER 342; INER Reference File 2, 41:2951).

Green-tier wastes are those destined for recovery operations, such as certain metals and paper, and do not contain hazardous components. Amber wastes, which are also destined for recovery operations, include substances such as lead and copper ash and waste from petroleum coke production and processing. These can only move to countries under the terms of valid contracts or equivalent arrangements. "Red" wastes, which are hazardous, can only be shipped to countries that have given written prior consent.

The complete name of the measure is Regulation No. 1547/1999 Determining the Control Procedures under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 259/93 to Apply to Shipments of Certain Types of Waste to Certain Countries to which OECD Decision C(92)39 Final Does Not Apply.

Reach of Control Procedures Widened

The new regulation extends the control procedure applicable to wastes listed in Annex III to Regulation 259/93 on the Supervision and Control of Shipments of Waste Within, Into, and Out of the European Community to exports to countries listed in Annex A of Regulation 1547/1999 (Reference File 4,181:0221).

What this means is that for certain countries, "green" wastes formerly shipped from EU member states to non-OECD nations without being subject to restrictions will now face controls applied to "amber" wastes shipped abroad.

The countries covered by this restriction (listed in Annex A) are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Poland, Singapore, Thailand, and Tunisia.

For Bulgaria, contracts will be required for shipments of gold, other precious metals, waste and scrap cast iron, copper waste and scrap, and other metals. For Macau, all wastes movements will be subject to valid contracts.

For other countries, green wastes will be subject to the restrictions set for the movements of red wastes, meaning that a country will have to give its written consent prior to the waste movements.

Examples of countries covered by this Annex B provision are Argentina and Bosnia and Herzegovina for all types of wastes; Brazil for nickel, lead, zinc, tin, and other wastes and scrap; China for most types of metal wastes and scrap; and India for metals such as cadmium, antimony, beryllium, and chromium and for plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Another 22 countries are covered under the Annex B provisions. The new Regulation No. 1547/1999 also repealed the EU's Decision 94/575/EC determining the control procedure under Council Regulation (EEC) No. 259/93 as regards certain shipments of waste to certain non-OECD countries. Regulation 1547/1999 will be effective the 30th day following its publication in the Official Journal.

Regulations are binding in their entirety and apply directly to all member states. They are stronger than directives and are effective immediately rather than at some date tied to their transposition into national law.

The regulation will be published in a future INER Reference File supplement.