§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans his Department has to introduce legislation to end the importing of another country's toxic waste; and if he will introduce a new classification to cover such categories of toxic material as the scrap metal contaminated with polychlorinated bi-phenyls.
§ Mr. AtkinsI refer to my answer to the hon. Member for Bootle (Mr. Benton) on 17 October 1994,Official Report, columns 17–18. All imports into the United Kingdom of waste for disposal, and of hazardous waste for recovery, are covered by the provisions of the EC Waste Shipments Regulation, 259/93, and the United Kingdom Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994, S.I. No. 1137. Scrap metal contaminated by PCBs is therefore covered by existing legislation.