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Exporters consider Annex VII legal challenge

By Will Date

Exporters of recycled materials are considering mounting a legal challenge in the European Courts over a piece of legislation that they claim forces them to reveal sensitive business secrets.

The Recycling Association strongly opposes the enforcement of Article 18 of the EUs Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations, which states that all exports of waste must be accompanied by a fully completed Annex VII form.

Annex VII forms must be completed and attached to any shipment of waste materials destined for a processing facility overseas
Annex VII forms must be completed and attached to any shipment of waste materials destined for a processing facility overseas

Annex VIIs require waste exporters to fill in details of exactly what kind of material is being shipped, where it originated in the UK and the facility overseas that the material is being shipped to.

Many companies keep sections of the form blank to protect commercial confidentiality claiming that declaring certain information compromises their ability to compete in the market as it potentially reveals core business information to rivals.

The Environment Agency has this month warned businesses that they may face prosecution if they continue to omit information from Annex VIIs. This comes after the European Court of Justice ruled in 2012 that commercial confidentiality does not outweigh the requirements of the TFS regulations (see letsrecycle.com story).

Challenge

But, speaking at a seminar on Annex VIIs involving Recycling Association members and the Environment Agency in London yesterday (July 30), the Associations chief executive Simon Ellin claimed that there is an opportunity to overturn the legislation.

‘We believe there is an option for a legal challenge. In 2012 the European Court of Justice ruled that under Article 18 [of the TFS regulations] business confidentiality was not a reason to not fill in an Annex VII fully.’

Simon Ellin, Recycling Association

He said: We believe there is an option for a legal challenge. In 2012 the European Court of Justice ruled that under Article 18 [of the TFS regulations] business confidentiality was not a reason to not fill in an Annex VII fully.

That is the law as it stands but the judge did say [after the 2012 ruling] he would welcome a second chance to look at the validity of Article 18 itself. I think there is an option there to challenge that legislation.

Enforcement

Speaking after Mr Ellin, the Environment Agencys deputy director of illegals and waste Mat Crocker told delegates that by fully completing the Annex VII document, legitimate business could help the Agency to focus on elements of the industry where illegal activity is occurring.

He said: We want to make sure that there is more of a gap between criminals and legitimate business, which would make it easier to catch those people. Annex VIIs are an important part of that as they give us a little beam of sunlight that allows us to look down that chain.

Annex VII provides us a window into what is going on in the industry. A piece of paper is not going to make the world better, but it is actually a great benefit to us.

However, exporters argued that the disclosure of sources and destinations of material could still lead to a loss of business, and called for a medium term solution such as the development of an electronic Annex VII recording system that would prevent commercial information from leaking out.

Agency officials said that the development of an e-system for Annex VIIs had been considered, but as the form concerns cross-border movements of waste it would also require cooperation from agencies overseas. Delegates were told that talks are currently ongoing within the EU over the development of an electronic system, although it is not currently clear when such a system could come into effect.

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