COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 259/93

 

of 1 February 1993

 

on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and

out of the European Community

 

This Document contains amendments made by the following:

 

 

 

 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 130s thereof,

 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

 

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),

 

Whereas the Community has signed the Basle Convention of 22 March 1989 on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal;

 

Whereas provisions concerning waste are contained in Article 39 of the ACP-EEC Convention of 15 December 1989;

 

Whereas the Community has approved the Decision of the OECD Council of 30 March 1992 on the control of transfrontier movements of wastes destined for recovery operations;

 

Whereas, in the light of the foregoing, Directive 84/631/EEC (4), which organizes the supervision and control of transfrontier shipments of hazardous waste, needs to be replaced by a Regulation;

 

Whereas the supervision and control of shipments of waste within a Member State is a national responsibility; whereas, however, national systems for the supervision and control of shipments of waste within a Member State should comply with minimum criteria in order to ensure a high level of protection of the environment and human health;

 

Whereas it is important to organize the supervision and control of shipments of wastes in a way which takes account of the need to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment;

 

Whereas Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (5) lays down in its Article 5 (1) that an integrated and adequate network of waste disposal installations, to be established by Member States through appropriate measures, where necessary or advisable in cooperation with other Member States, must enable the Community as a whole to become self-sufficient in waste disposal and the Member States to move towards that aim individually, taking into account geographical circumstances or the need for specialized installations for certain types of waste; whereas Article 7 of the said Directive requests the drawing up of waste management plans, if appropriate in cooperation with the Member States concerned, which shall be notified to the Commission, and stipulates that Member States may take measures necessary to prevent movements of waste which are not in accordance with their waste management plans and that they shall inform the Commission and the other Member States of any such measures;

 

Whereas it is necessary to apply different procedures depending on the type of waste and its destination, including whether it is destined for disposal or recovery;

 

Whereas shipments of waste must be subject to prior notification to the competent authorities enabling them to be duly informed in particular of the type, movement and disposal or recovery of the waste, so that these authorities may take all necessary measures for the protection of human health and the environment, including the possibility of raising reasoned objections to the shipment;

 

Whereas Member States should be able to implement the principles of proximity, priority for recovery and self-sufficiency at Community and national levels — in accordance with Directive 75/442/EEC — by taking measures in accordance with the Treaty to prohibit generally or partially or to object systematically to shipments of waste for disposal, except in the case of hazardous waste produced in the Member State of dispatch in such a small quantity that the provision of new specialized disposal installations within that State would be uneconomic; whereas the specific problem of disposal of such small quantities requires cooperation between the Member States concerned and possible recourse to a Community procedure;

 

Whereas exports of waste for disposal to third countries must be prohibited in order to protect the environment of those countries; whereas exceptions shall apply to exports to EFTA countries which are also Parties to the Basle Convention;

 

Whereas exports of waste for recovery to countries to which the OECD Decision does not apply must be subject to conditions providing for environmentally sound management of waste;

 

Whereas agreements or arrangements on exports of waste for recovery with countries to which the OECD Decision does not apply must be subject to periodic review by the Commission leading, if appropriate, to a proposal by the Commission to reconsider the conditions under which such exports take place, including the possibility of a ban;

 

Whereas shipments of waste for recovery listed on the green list of the OECD Decision shall be generally excluded from the control procedures of this Regulation since such waste should not normally present a risk to the environment if properly recovered in the country of # IO116,9 # destination; whereas some exceptions to this exclusion are necessary in accordance with Community legislation and the OECD Decision;  whereas some exceptions are also necessary in order to facilitate the tracking of such shipments within the Community and to take account of exceptional cases; whereas such waste shall be subject to Directive 75/ 442/EEC;

 

Whereas exports of waste for recovery listed on the OECD green list to countries to which the OECD Decision does not apply must be subject to consultation by the Commission with the country of destination; whereas it may be appropriate in the light of such consultation that the

Commission make proposals to the Council;

 

Whereas exports of waste for recovery to countries which are not parties to the Basle Convention must be subject to specific agreements between these countries and the Community; whereas Member States must, in exceptional cases, be able to conclude after the date of application of this Regulation bilateral agreements for the import of specific waste before the Community has concluded such agreements, in the case of waste for recovery in order to avoid any interruption of waste treatment and in the case of waste for disposal where the country of dispatch does not have or cannot reasonably acquire the technical capacity and necessary facilities to dispose of the waste in an environmentally sound manner;

 

Whereas provision must be made for the waste to be taken back or to be disposed of or recovered in an alternative and environmentally sound manner if the shipment cannot be completed in accordance with the terms of the consignment note or the contract;

 

Whereas, in the event of illegal traffic, the person whose action is the cause of such traffic must take back and/or dispose of or recover the waste in an alternative and environmentally sound manner; whereas, should he fail to do so, the competent authorities of dispatch or destination, as appropriate, must themselves intervene;

 

Whereas it is important for a system of financial guarantees or equivalent insurance to be established;

 

Whereas Member States must provide the Commission with information relevant to the implementation of this Regulation;

 

Whereas the documents provided for by this Regulation must be established and the Annexes adapted within a Community procedure,

 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

 

TITLE I

 

SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

 

Article 1

 

1. This Regulation shall apply to shipments of waste within, into and out of the Community.

 

2. The following shall be excluded from the scope of this Regulation:

 

(a) the offloading to shore of waste generated by the normal operation of ships and offshore platforms, including waste water and residues, provided that such waste is the subject of a specific binding international instrument;

 

(b) shipments of civil aviation waste;

 

(c) shipments of radioactive waste as defined in Article 2 of Directive 92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community (6);

 

(d) shipments of waste mentioned in Article 2 (1) (b) of Directive 75/ 442/EEC, where they are already covered by other relevant legislation;

 

(e) shipments of waste into the Community in accordance with the requirements of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

 

3. (a) Shipments of waste destined for recovery only and listed in Annex II shall also be excluded from the provisions of this Regulation except as provided for in subparagraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e), in Article 11 and in Article 17 (1), (2) and (3).

 

(b) Such waste shall be subject to all provisions of Directive 75/442/ EEC. It shall in particular be:

 

— destined for duly authorized facilities only, authorized according to Article 10 and 11 of Directive 75/442/EEC,

 

— subject to all provisions of Articles 8, 12, 13 and 14 of Directive 75/442/EEC.

 

(c) However, certain wastes listed in Annex II may be controlled, if, among other reasons, they exhibit any of the hazardous characteristics listed in Annex III of Council Directive 91/689/ EEC (7), as if they had been listed in Annex III or IV.

 

These wastes and the decision about which of the two procedures should be followed shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC. Such wastes shall be listed in Annex II (a).

 

(d) In exceptional cases, shipments of wastes listed in Annex II may, for environmental or public health reasons, be controlled by Member States as if they had been listed in Annex III or IV. Member States which make use of this possibility shall immediately notify the Commission of such cases and inform other Member States, as appropriate, and give reasons for their decision. The Commission, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC, may confirm such action including, where appropriate, by adding such wastes to Annex II.A.

 

(e) Where waste listed in Annex II is shipped in contravention of this Regulation or of Directive 75/442/EEC, Member States may apply appropriate provisions of Articles 25 and 26 of this Regulation.

 

Article 2

 

For the purposes of this Regulation:

 

(a) waste is as defined in Article 1 (a) of Directive 75/442/EEC;

 

(b) competent authorities means the competent authorities designated by either the Member States in accordance with Article 36 or non- Member States;

 

(c) competent authority of dispatch means the competent authority, designated by the Member States in accordance with Article 36, for the area from which the shipment is dispatched or designated by non-Member States;

 

(d) competent authority of destination means the competent authority, designated by the Member States in accordance with Article 36, for the area in which the shipment is received, or in which waste is loaded on board before disposal at sea without prejudice to existing conventions on disposal at sea or designated by non-Member States;

 

(e) competent authority of transit means the single authority designated by Member States in accordance with Article 36 for the State through which the shipment is in transit;

 

(f) correspondent means the central body designated by each Member State and the Commission, in accordance with Article 37;

 

(g) notifier means any natural person or corporate body to whom or to which the duty to notify is assigned, that is to say the person referred to hereinafter who proposes to ship waste or have waste shipped:

 

(i) the person whose activities produced the waste (original producer); or

 

(ii) where this is not possible, a collector licensed to this effect by a Member State or a registered or licensed dealer or broker who arranges for the disposal or the recovery of waste; or

 

(iii) where these persons are unknown or are not licensed, the person having possession or legal control of the waste (holder); or

 

(iv) in the case of import into or transit through the Community of waste, the person designated by the laws of the State of dispatch or, when this designation has not taken place, the person having possession or legal control of the waste (holder);

 

(h) consignee means the person or undertaking to whom or to which the waste is shipped for recovery or disposal;

 

(i) disposal is as defined in Article 1 (e) of Directive 75/442/EEC;

 

(j) authorized centre means any establishment or undertaking authorized or licensed pursuant to Article 6 of Directive 75/439/EEC (8), Articles 9, 10 and 11 of Directive 75/442/EEC and Article 6 of Directive 76/403/EEC (9);

 

(k) recovery is as defined in Article 1 (f) of Directive 75/442/EEC;

 

(l) State of dispatch means any State from which a shipment of waste is planned or made;

 

(m) State of destination means any State to which a shipment of waste is planned or made for disposal or recovery, or for loading on board before disposal at sea without prejudice to existing conventions on disposal at sea;

 

(n) State of transit means any State, other than the State of dispatch or destination, through which a shipment of waste is planned or made;

 

(o) consignment note means the standard consignment note to be drawn up in accordance with Article 42;

 

(p) the Basle Convention means the Basle Convention of 22 March 1989 on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal;

 

(q) the fourth Lomé Convention means the Lomé Convention of 15 December 1989;

 

(r) the OECDD ecision means the decision of the OECD Council of 30 March 1992 on the control of transfrontier movements of wastes destined for recovery operations.

 

 

TITLE II

 

SHIPMENTS OF WASTE BETWEEN MEMBER STATES

 

Chapter A

 

Waste for disposal

 

Article 3

 

1. Where the notifier intends to ship waste for disposal from one Member State to another Member State and/or pass it in transit through one or several other Member States, and without prejudice to Articles 25 (2) and 26 (2), he shall notify the competent authority of destination and send a copy of the notification to the competent authorities of dispatch and of transit and to the consignee.

 

2. Notification shall mandatorily cover any intermediate stage of the shipment from the place of dispatch to its final destination.3. Notification shall be effected by means of the consignment note which shall be issued by the competent authority of dispatch.

 

4. In making notification, the notifier shall complete the consignment note and shall, if requested by competent authorities, supply additional information and documentation.

 

5. The notifier shall supply on the consignment note information with particular regard to:

 

— the source, composition and quantity of the waste for disposal including, in the case of Article 2 (g) (ii), the producer's identity and, in the case of waste from various sources a detailed inventory of the waste and, if known, the identity of the original producers,

 

— the arrangements for routing and for insurance against damage to third parties,

 

— the measures to be taken to ensure safe transport and, in particular, compliance by the carrier with the conditions laid down for transport by the Member States concerned,

 

— the identity of the consignee of the waste, the location of the disposal centre and the type and duration of the authorization under which the centre operates. The centre must have adequate technical capacity for the disposal of the waste in question under conditions presenting no danger to human health or to the environment,

 

— the operations involving disposal as referred to in Annex II.A to Directive 75/442/EEC.

 

6. The notifier must make a contract with the consignee for the disposal of the waste.

 

The contract may include some or all of the information referred to in paragraph 5.

 

The contract must include the obligation:

 

— of the notifier, in accordance with Articles 25 and 26 (2), to take the waste back if the shipment has not been completed as planned or if it has been effected in violation of this Regulation,

 

— of the consignee, to provide as soon as possible and no later than 180 days following the receipt of the waste a certificate to the notifier that the waste has been disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

 

A copy of this contract must be supplied to the competent authority on request.

 

Should the waste be shipped between two establishments under the control of the same legal entity, this contract may be replaced by a declaration by the entity in question undertaking to dispose of the waste.

 

7. The information given in accordance with paragraphs 4 to 6 shall be treated confidentially in accordance with existing national regulations.

 

8. A competent authority of dispatch may, in accordance with national legislation, decide to transmit the notification itself instead of the notifier to the competent authority of destination, with copies to the consignee and to the competent authority of transit. The competent authority of dispatch may decide not to proceed with notification if it has itself immediate objections to raise against the shipment in accordance with Article 4 (3). It shall immediately inform the notifier of these objections.

 

Article 4

 

1. On receipt of the notification, the competent authority of destination shall, within three working days, send an acknowledgement to the notifier and copies thereof to the other competent authorities concerned and to the consignee.

 

2. (a) The competent authority of destination shall have 30 days following dispatch of the acknowledgement to take its decision authorizing the shipment, with or without conditions, or refusing it. It may also request additional information.

 

It shall give its authorization only in the absence of objections on its part or on the part of the other competent authorities. The authorization shall be subject to any transport conditions referred to in (d).

 

The competent authority of destination shall take its decision not earlier than 21 days following the dispatch of the acknowledgement. It may, however, take its decision earlier if it has the written consent of the other competent authorities concerned.

 

The competent authority of destination shall send its decision to the notifier in writing, with copies to the other competent authorities concerned.

 

(b) The competent authorities of dispatch and transit may raise objections within 20 days following the dispatch of the acknowledgement. They may also request additional information. These objections shall be conveyed in writing to the notifier, with copies to the other competent authorities concerned.

 

(c) The objections and conditions referred to in (a) and (b) shall be based on paragraph 3.

 

(d) The competent authorities of dispatch and transit may, within 20 days following the dispatch of the acknowledgement, lay down conditions in respect of the transport of waste within their jurisdiction.

 

These conditions must be notified to the notifier in writing, with copies to the competent authorities concerned, and entered in the consignment note. They may not be more stringent than those laid down in respect of similar shipments occurring wholly within their jurisdiction and shall take due account of existing agreements, in particular relevant international conventions.

 

3. (a) (i) In order to implement the principles of proximity, priority for recovery and self-sufficiency at Community and national levels in accordance with Directive 75/442/EEC, Member States may take measures in accordance with the Treaty to prohibit generally or partially or to object systematically to shipments of waste. Such measures shall immediately be notified to the Commission, which will inform the other Member States.

 

(ii) In the case of hazardous waste (as defined in Article 1 (4) of Directive 91/689/EEC) produced in a Member State of dispatch in such a small quantity overall per year that the

provision of new specialized disposal installations within that State would be uneconomic, (i) shall not apply.

 

(iii) The Member State of destination shall cooperate with the Member State of dispatch which considers that (ii) applies, with a view to resolving the issue bilaterally. If there is no satisfactory solution, either Member State may refer the matter to the Commission, which will determine the issue in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Directive 75/442/EEC,

 

(b) The competent authorities of dispatch and destination, while taking into account geographical circumstances or the need for specialized installations for certain types of waste, may raise reasoned objections to planned shipments if they are not in accordance with Directive 75/442/EEC,  especially Articles 5 and 7:

 

(i) in order to implement the principle of self-sufficiency at Community and national levels;

 

(ii) in cases where the installation has to dispose of waste from a nearer source and the competent authority has given priority to this waste;

 

(iii) in order to ensure that shipments are in accordance with waste management plans.

 

(c) Furthermore, the competent authorities of dispatch, destination and transit may raise reasoned objections to the planned shipment  if:

 

— it is not in accordance with national laws and regulations relating to environmental protection, public order, public safety or health protection,

 

— the notifier or the consignee was previously guilty of illegal trafficking.

 

In this case, the competent authority of dispatch may refuse all shipments involving the person in question in accordance with national legislation, or

 

— the shipment conflicts with obligations resulting from international conventions concluded by the Member State or Member States concerned.

 

4. If, within the time limits laid down in paragraph 2, the competent authorities are satisfied that the problems giving rise to their objections have been solved and that the conditions in respect of the transport will be met, they shall immediately inform the notifier in writing, with copies to the consignee and to the other competent authorities concerned. If there is subsequently any essential change in the conditions of the shipment, a new notification must be made.

 

5. The competent authority of destination shall signify its authorization by appropriately stamping the consignment note.

 

Article 5

 

1. The shipment may be effected only after the notifier has received authorization from the competent authority of destination.

 

2. Once the notifier has received authorization, he shall insert the date of shipment and otherwise complete the consignment note and send copies to the competent authorities concerned three working days before the shipment is made.

 

3. A copy or, if requested by the competent authorities, a specimen of the consignment note, together with the stamp of authorization, shall accompany each shipment.

 

4. All undertakings involved in the operation shall complete the consignment note at the points indicated, sign it and retain a copy thereof.

 

5. Within three working days following receipt of the waste for disposal, the consignee shall send copies of the completed consignment note, except for the certificate referred to in paragraph 6, to the notifier and the competent authorities concerned.

 

6. As soon as possible and not later than 180 days following the receipt of the waste, the consignee shall, under his responsibility, send a certificate of disposal to the notifier and the other competent authorities concerned. This certificate shall be part of or attached to the= consignment note which accompanies the shipment.