§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he intends to take to make sure that the Government comply with all EEC directives relating to transfrontier shipments of hazardous waste; when Her Majesty's Government will agree a definition of what is hazardous; whether it will adopt the current Belgian definition, and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoynihanWe plan to implement the directives by means of regulations to be laid before Parliament before the summer recess, to come into effect in the early autumn.
The control and supervision procedures introduced by the regulations will apply to special wastes as defined in the Control of Pollution (Special Waste) Regulations 1980 and will replace existing controls on imports and exports contained in the 1980 regulations. In addition, the procedures will apply to such imports of non special waste as are notified to waste disposal authorities by a holder in another member state as being "hazardous" in terms of that country's implementation of the directive.
The effect of the regulations will be to provide waste disposal authorities, both at the port of entry and at the disposal site, with prior notification of shipments and better information on the nature of the waste. Details of the proposed procedures have been circulated to local authority and industry associations.