As at: May 2007

This Document corresponds to the status of discussions of April 2007.
View results of the deliberations in June 2007

Further development of European rules and regulations on the shipments of waste

I. Amendments to annexes of Regulation (EC) on shipments of waste

During the above-mentioned meetings of correspondents the amendments to the annexes of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste were discussed. Decisions on the amendments to the annexes can be made by means of a committee procedure (comitology).

1. Amendments to annexes based on decisions made on UN level

To implement the decisions of the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Basel Convention in late 2006, the following annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 will be amended:

• Annex IA (notification document) and Annex IB (movement document); in particular, the amount of waste has to be specified in tonnes and no longer in kilos in future,
• Annex IC (instructions for completing the notification and movement documents of Annexes IA and IB); this annex had no contents so far,
• Annex VII (document accompanying the shipment of waste which does not require notification); in particular, the amount of waste has to be specified in tonnes and no longer in kilos in future, and
• Annex VIII (guidelines on environmentally sound management); addition of five guidelines on waste containing POPs, adopted at COP8.

Annexes IA, IB and IC are based on the document which is available here (PDF file, 301 kB) and also at www.basel.int. Annexes IA and IB have to be incorporated into Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 in their exact wording, while the instructions for completing the documents will be adapted to the provisions of Regulation No 1013/2006. A draft for Annex IC (as at 3 April 2007) is available here (PDF-File, 76 kB).

The Commission intends to conclude the amendments to these annexes by means of a committee procedure as soon as possible (approximately June 2007).

2. Further amendments

Annex IIIA (mixtures of green listed wastes) of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006, which currently has no contents, will be filled by January 2008. This will make it possible to exempt certain non-hazardous mixtures of wastes from the notification procedure, facilitating the process for industry and authorities. Germany and Finland submitted proposals for the content of this annex (August 2006; PDF file, 63 kB and March 2007, respectively). In order to be able to decide on these proposals, additional technical information is necessary which has to be provided by industry in particular.

In addition, Germany proposed another amendment to Annex VII in March 2007 to ensure commercial secrecy (PDF file, 98 kB). In case dealers or brokers arrange the shipment they would not have to disclose to the recovery facility who produced the waste. The Commission is currently reviewing the proposal.

II. Results of the meetings of correspondents of the Regulation (EC) on the shipments of waste

The correspondents of the Regulation (EC) on the shipment of waste met on 13 September 2006, 14/15 December 2006 and 8/9 March 2007. The essential results are presented in the following:

1. Guidelines on the shipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

Correspondents' Guidelines No 1 (In German: PDF file, 249 kB) on the shipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment (pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 259/93) were provisionally adopted. (English version: PDF file, 232 kB)

The guidelines provide information for

• persons arranging shipments of waste electrical and electronic equipment,
• holders of electrical and electronic equipment (non-waste) arranging transboundary transports of this equipment who wish to avoid non-compliance with the Waste Shipment Regulation, and
• authorities responsible for the enforcement of the Waste Shipment Regulation.

The guidelines are dealing in particular with the following issues:

• whether or not the material in question is waste, including the issue of who has the burden of proof with regard to making this distinction (holder or authority),
• testing functionality, documents and packaging necessary to prove the claim that used EEE is not WEEE, and
• distinction between hazardous and non-hazardous WEEE.

These guidelines entered into force on 15 March 2007. Germany had a leading role in preparing these guidelines, which are also available in German translation. They will cease to have effect on 12 July 2007 as they refer to Regulation (EEC) No 259/93 which also will cease to have effect on 12 July 2007. Simultaneously, amended guidelines will enter into force which will be adapted to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste which will take effect on 12 July 2007. The corresponding decision is scheduled for the next meeting of correspondents on 14/15 July 2007. The draft (as at 21 May 2007) is available here. (PDF file, 168 kB).

Furthermore, two potential Annexes for above-mentioned guidelines are being drawn up which will contain waste classifications for all WEEE. The first appendix will assign codes pursuant to the European list of waste. Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 (Annexes III and IV) referring to Annex IB of the EU Directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment contains a list of products divided into product categories. Pursuant to the European list of waste, the second appendix will assign waste codes to the disassembled waste WEEE fractions split up into two tables, one for non-hazardous and one for hazardous fractions. The draft (as at 13 April 2007) is available here (PDF file, 810 kB).

2. Further guidelines

The following guidelines are currently being prepared (with Germany holding the main responsibility) and are planned to be adopted on 14/15 June at the latest:

• Correspondents' Guidelines No 2 on information on the import of waste produced by armed forces or relief organisations. Pursuant to Article 1 (3) g of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006, imports into the Community of waste generated by armed forces or relief organisations in situations of crisis, peacemaking or peacekeeping operations, where such waste is shipped by the armed forces or relief organisations concerned or on their behalf to the country of destination, shall be excluded from the scope of the Regulation. However, the competent authorities shall be informed in advance concerning the shipment. The guidelines will establish which information should be submitted to the authorities. The draft (as at 25 April 2007) is available here (PDF file, 218 kB).
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• Correspondents' guidelines for the certification of non-interim disposal operations. Pursuant to Article 15 (e) Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 a facility carrying out interim recovery or disposal operations (for example sorting, interim storage) and delivering waste to facilities within the same state, must obtain a certificate from the subsequent non-interim facility that recovery or disposal has been completed. The guidelines will establish which information should be included in the certificate. The draft (as at 29 May 2007) is available here (PDF-File, 173 kB).
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• Correspondents' guidelines clarifying Annex IV Part I c of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 referring to the classification of waste electrical and electronic equipment and coal fired power plants fly ash. The guidelines will establish in which cases this waste will be classified as hazardous or non-hazardous. The draft (as at 21 May 2007) is available here (PDF-File, 102 kB).

In addition, a paper on the system of correspondents' guidelines (referred to as "information sheets" so far) was adopted which contains basic statements on the guidelines (PDF-File, 88 kB). Furthermore, five existing information sheets will cease to have effect on 12 July 2007.

3. Other

A paper on the relationship between the correspondents and the IMPEL TFS National Contact Points and a work programme for the meetings of the correspondents was agreed on (PDF file, 104 kB). Furthermore, the interpretation of the transitional provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 were agreed on; they were decided on during the last meeting of the legal committee of the federal and Länder working group on waste (LAGA) (In German: PDF file, 63 kB).