§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What regulations are applied and by whom to the incineration of toxic or other waste within 200 miles of the United Kingdom and how these regulations are enforced.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Belstead)No waste may be incinerated within British fishery limits except in accordance with a licence issued under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or the relevant territorial Secretary of State. In considering applications for such licences and in setting their conditions, Ministers take account of the relevant requirements of the Oslo Convention. All other countries with coastlines bordering the North Sea and the North-East Atlantic are committed, as signatories of the Oslo Convention, to do likewise. Licensing authorities enforce these conditions by requiring returns of information, and by the inspection of vessels, installations, records and automatically recorded data.
§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list (a) the quantities and (b) the kinds of waste currently being incinerated at sea within 200 miles of the United Kingdom, specifying the flag and the ownership of the vessels involved.
§ Lord BelsteadOne site off the Dutch coast is designated for the incineration of waste in the waters of the North Sea and the North-East Altlantic which are covered by the Oslo Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution. The lastest available complete information, which relates to 1983, is contained in the Tenth Annual Report of the Oslo Commission, a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House. As Tables 3 and 7 of the Report (pp 84–89 and 95) indicate, some 86,000 tonnes of a large range of wastes were incinerated in 1983. Three vessels are now involved: two registered in Liberia and operated by Ocean Cumbustion Services; and the other registered in the Federal Republic of Germany and operated by Lehnkering Montan.