SUBJECT: TRANSBORDER SHIPMENT OF WASTE MATERIAL TO AND FROM THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA

SUBJECT: Transborder shipments of waste to and from the Republic of Bulgaria according to Regulation (EC) № 1013/2006 and Ordinance 1 of 04.06.2014.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,

DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN MINISTERS,

During recent months we have been repeatedly informed by our members that they encounter significant difficulties in carrying out transborder shipments of waste to and from the Republic of Bulgaria and in particular, shipments that require notification by the Ministry of Environment and Water / MoEW / . Since the beginning of 2020, a number of applications for notifications of transboundary movements of wastes have been submitted under Regulation (EC) /200 1013/2006. More than 10 months such are either not issued or are issued with a delay of several months, as there is no information about the legal grounds due to which the envisaged procedure has not been completed. Delays in issuing notifications are related to non-compliance with the deadlines provided for the fulfillment of the obligations in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) № 1013/2006 - "Transmission of the notification by the competent authority of dispatch" and in Art. 8 - “Requests for information and documentation from the competent authorities concerned and confirmation from the competent authority of destination” by the MoEW.

We believe that the procedure for examining applications for transborder movements of waste and for issuing the relevant notifications is extremely cumbersome and non-functional. In practice, this procedure does not assist the economic entities to carry out their activities, but on the contrary, makes them difficult and creates real preconditions for blocking the entire activity. We emphasize that the waste subject to these shipments is the main raw material for economic operators engaged in their processing and recycling, as their rhythmic supply is a condition for higher economic activity and production efficiency, stability of technological processes and trouble-free production in accordance with the environmental protection requirements and work safety conditions.

The existing uncertainty regarding the implementation of the planned deliveries or exports, on the one hand, hinders the activity of the companies employed in this industry, and on the other hand puts long-term contractual relations with the foreign contractors at uncalled for risk. This inevitably leads to a further deterioration of the economic situation in these companies, to job cuts and to the cessation of activities as a final result. We draw your attention to the fact that in the conditions of the occurring epidemic situation in the country, when the government takes measures to support the business, it is inadmissible to create unjustified administrative difficulties for carrying out normal and legally regulated economic activity.

In connection with the problem above, inquiries have been repeatedly made to the MoEW, but unfortunately they are still left unanswered. This approach and lack of reaction hinders the economic activity in important sectors for the country and we believe that the competent authority is unwilling to take the necessary measures to solve the problem and issue notifications for transborder movements of waste under Regulation (EC) (1013/2006. That is why we turn to you, insisting that all necessary actions be undertaken to stop the several months delay in this process and to comply with the European regulations for transborder shipments of waste to and from the Republic of Bulgaria.

The other significant problem, which hinders the activity of our members in the implementation of waste shipments to the Republic of Bulgaria, is rooted in the newly adopted text in Ordinance №1 of 04.06.2014. (SG, issue 30 of 31 March 2020) for the procedure and the samples according to which information on the waste activities is provided, as well as the procedure for keeping public registers (the Ordinance). Art. 22, para. 4 et al. 5 of the Ordinance introduces a new obligation for people carrying out transborder shipments of waste to the Republic of Bulgaria, namely: to contact RIEW Sofia at the destination of waste by e-mail, no later than the day of the loading, with a copy of a completed form in Annex VII of Regulation (EC) (1013/2006.

Our organization has received numerous signals from its members regarding the objective impossibility to fulfill the new notification obligation in time. It is often practically impossible for the competent RIEW to be notified of the planned cross-border transport to the Republic of Bulgaria on the day of its loading. Please note that the workload can be carried out on holidays or weekends, as well as outside the working hours of the employees of the company, which should send the notification. The time difference between the individual Member States must also be taken into account here. In such cases, the notification of the waste load is sent on the first working day following the workload, which, however, qualifies as a violation of the Ordinance and sanctions are imposed. For these reasons, the respective RIEWs have issued a number of acts for administrative violations, which lead to additional financial costs for the business.

In view of the above, we consider that the provision of Art. 22, para. 4 and 5 of the Ordinance should be amended by providing a longer period for notification to the RIEW. The extension of this term will not affect the achievement of the objectives pursued by the Ordinance - improving the traceability of waste and the prevention of possible violations, but will enable people transporting waste to the Republic of Bulgaria to correctly fulfill their obligations under the law.

In conclusion, we would like to note that the adopted change in the Ordinance is not subject to public discussion (the announced text for public discussion on the website of the MoEW has a different content from the subsequently adopted), and that the amendment became a fact on 31.03.2020. ., i.e. in a state of emergency.

Furthermore, we would like to emphasize that Regulation (EC) № 1013/2006 does not contain such a notification obligation and its introduction in a national by-law leads to an unjustified increase in the administrative burden for debtors, despite repeated intentions to facilitate business. It is particularly important to take into account the unjustifiably short deadline for its implementation, as well as the serious financial consequences that a delay in notification would lead to. We emphasize again that our members are leading Bulgarian companies whose goal is to develop business in accordance with national and European legislation. However, they strongly oppose the introduction of practically ill-conceived and legally unfounded texts, the result of which is the generation of unnecessary documentation in terms that are impossible to implement. Such an attitude can be qualified as administrative arbitrariness, which leads to the cessation of the activity of the companies, which are engaged in cross-border transportation of waste or process these secondary raw materials into products with new added value.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,

DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN MINISTERS,

In view of the above, we turn to you and insist that you take all necessary actions to stop the several-month delay in issuing notifications for transborder shipments of waste to and from the Republic of Bulgaria and the necessary to change Art. 22, para. 4 and 5 of the Ordinance, in accordance with the opinion, expressed above.

WITH RESPECT,

RADOSVET RADEV

Chairman of the Board of BIA

 The letter is on signals and by order of:

Bulgarian Recycling Association

Bulgarian Recovery and Recycling Association

Recycling Industry Association

Association of second-hand clothing processors and traders

Branch Chamber of the Pulp and Paper Industry

Bulgarian Association of the Metallurgical Industry