Archived press release

Eu law to ban import of toxic ghost ships

19 November 2003

It will be illegal to import the US ghost ships in just over a year if a new European law being debated today gets the go-ahead. The European Parliament is discussing a new draft EU law that will ban the import of the US "ghost fleet" ships, along with other waste containing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) because of their toxicity.

The law is expected to come into force by early 2005 and will treat all waste containing (or contaminated with) PCBs in the same way regardless of whether the waste is intended for disposal or recycling.

The draft law already has the support of the European Commission and the relevant parts are expected to gain the full support of the European Parliamentarians today. Friends of the Earth said that the law "vindicates the position we have taken that these ships are toxic and should not be imported into the UK". Friends of the Earth is calling on all developed countries to deal with their own waste.

The law will bring into force an international treaty - the Stockholm Convention - which bans the production of the 12 most toxic groups of chemicals worldwide (including PCBs). The Stockholm Convention also prevents the export of the chemicals (including in waste) except from countries that have no safe disposal facilities (essentially some developing countries) and sets dates by which all of the chemicals must be destroyed or safely disposed of. The UK and the USA signed the Treaty in 2001. It is expected that the Treaty will become international law by the end of 2004 when the fiftieth country ratifies the Treaty.

As a result of the draft law, importing ships to the UK containing or contaminated with PCBs will be banned unless coming from a country that does not have and cannot reasonably acquire the technical facilities necessary to dispose of the hazardous waste in an environmentally sound manner. That is not the case with the USA.

According to a report produced for Able UK in September 2003 the 13 ships of the ghost fleet intended to be exported to the UK hold between them almost 700 tonnes of PCBs.. A report by the US Marine Administration says that these chemicals could be removed prior to the ships being exported although the cost was considered prohibitive by the US authorities. A Friends of the Earth briefing on PCBs is available at: www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/ghost_fleet_toxicity.pdf (PDF† format)

Tony Juniper, Executive Director at Friends of the Earth, said:

"Friends of the Earth has been attacked by Able UK and Peter Mandleson MP for calling these ships `toxic' and demanding that the US deals with its own waste. They appear to be ignorant about this new law which will ban the import of these ships precisely because of the toxic materials they contain. If these ships are too toxic to import in 2005 then in Friends of the Earth's opinion they are too toxic to import now, especially from a country that has the means and the moral responsibility to deal with its own waste."

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust