The Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) and the Bulgarian Industrial Association signed a memorandum of cooperation on waste transportation to and from the Republic of Bulgaria. The document was signed by the Minister of Environment and Water Emil Dimitrov and the Chairman of BIA Radosvet Radev.
The memorandum envisages cooperation between the MoEW and BIA to prevent illegal shipments of waste to and from Bulgaria, as well as the effective implementation of the norms of the environmental legislation. In this regard, the MoEW and BIA will exchange information, ideas, experience, and statistical data; the two institutions will develop joint projects and initiatives, and co-organize forums, conferences, seminars, training, and workshops.
According to the Memorandum, in case of difficulties in the implementation of the current legislation concerning transboundary shipments of waste, the MoEW should undertake timely action to amend the legislation, without affecting its functionality for control purposes. For its part, BIA will actively participate in the processes of coordination, consultation, and informing stakeholders to ensure the better administration of the processes. BIA will provide strong support to the dialogue by presenting the business. Following BIA’s recommendations, the notification can be made by the recipient and not by the carrier, which reduces the administrative pressure on the activity.
BIA and MoEW sign the Memorandum, led by:
- the interests of the state and the economic operators carrying out cross-border transportation of waste to and from the Republic of Bulgaria,
- the understanding that the dialogue and cooperation between the MoEW and business representatives can achieve positive results in the prevention of illegal waste shipments,
- the desire to join forces in carrying out cooperation in the field of waste shipments.
"Through the dialogue and cooperation between the MoEW and business representatives, we can achieve positive results in the prevention of illegal shipments of waste," Minister Emil Nikolov stated after signing the agreement.
"BIA is a business organization that has leading expertise in the field of environment and, in particular - on issues related to waste transportation. Therefore, the document signed today is a natural consequence of yearlong efforts to bring the Bulgarian legislation and practice to European and world standards, without exceeding them; we have also preserved the interests of economic operators involved in this activity, " Radosvet Radev, the Chairman of BIA, said. He expressed hope that the implementation of the joint activities laid out in the Memorandum would begin as soon as possible.
The memorandum is indefinite and may be terminated with one month's written notice by either party.
