HC Deb 11 January 1993 vol 216 cc534-5W
Ms. Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give details of all shipments of infectious clinical waste for disposal from Germany to the United Kingdom in the last 12 months, including tonnage, port of entry, packaging, labelling and temperature-controlled conditions.

Mr. Norris

The details of individual shipments of clinical waste are not normally recorded by the Department. In these instances, permission has been given for the importation of certain goods subject to stringent conditions.

The packages are of a type designed and tested to comply with standards laid down by the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Committee of Experts' Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and those of the German Federal Institute for Material Research and Material Tests. Packages are labelled and marked "WASTE, INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCES AFFECTING HUMANS" UN 2814, Class 6.2 and carried in refrigerated containers where the temperature is kept below 5 deg. C. We have been informed that about 400 tonnes have been shipped through Harwich during the last 12 months.