Waste shipments ban

The new list, amending an annex to the 1993 Regulation on waste shipments, implements the international rules agreed earlier this year under the UNBasel Convention (ENDSReport 278, p 44). The export ban, covering "hazardous waste" could not take effect until parties to the Convention agreed suitable hazardous waste definitions.

The new EClist imposes the export ban on a wider range of wastes than those agreed under the Basel Convention. Wastes on the EC's hazardous waste list or the OECD's red and amber lists may also be banned.

However, under the Basel Convention, a list B of wastes which are not subject to the ban was agreed as well as a list A of those which are. The new EC instrument is structured so that any material appearing on list B can continue to be exported even if it appears on the EC hazardous waste list or on the red or amber lists.

Also recently published in the Official Journal is the Council's common position on a Regulation to introduce new control procedures on wastes exported to non-OECDcountries. The proposed instrument bans certain waste exports to developing countries which responded to a Commission communication asking which wastes they wanted banned.