Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what import and disposal authorisation had been granted for the cargoes of PCB wastes sent from Canada in August on the ships Khudozhnik Saryan and the Madezha Obukhoba to the ports of Tilbury and Liverpool.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyImports of hazardous wastes into this country are governed by the Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations 1988. These require the waste disposal authority responsible for the facility receiving the waste to give its approval. A copy of the completed consignment note must be sent to the Secretary of State. These do not identify the ship on which any particular consignment is to be carried, but we have no reason to think that these two shipments were not properly notified.
Disposal of wastes is governed by the licensing of facilities by the waste disposal authority under the Control of Pollution Act 1974.