Over 3,700 tons of waste, stopped in 2022 upon entering Romania

12th January 202310th January 2023 Tony Kingham

In the year 2022 (11 months) , more than 246 cases of illegal transport of waste were identified from countries in Europe (the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Serbia, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, France, Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia), but also from Turkey and Canada.

Following the checks carried out by the competent authorities (National Environmental Guard, General Directorate of Customs, etc.), it was established that the goods, in a total amount of over 3,780 tons , were waste, did not correspond to the data declared and contained in the documents presented to the authority customs, respectively did not meet the legal conditions of entry from the point of view of environmental legislation.

Subsequently, waste, consisting of metal and paper, aluminum, textiles, rubber, wood, batteries and pieces of asbestos, glass, ferrous material, end-of-life vehicle components, household appliances, electrical and electronic equipment, etc. were returned to the territory of the neighboring state (at the land border), respectively to the exporting companies (at the maritime border) , because they cannot be put into circulation on the territory of Romania.

The situation on the borders, in 2022, is as follows:

The most events were registered at the border with Hungary – ITPF Oradea – 133 cases where more than 787 tons of waste were discovered at the entrance to Romania, in PTF Borş II, PTF Nădlac II and PTF Vărşand.
ITPF Sighetu Marmaţiei, PTF Petea – 41 cases with over 610 tons of waste that were not allowed to enter the country.
At the border with Bulgaria – in the area of competence of ITPF Giurgiu, 64 cases were registered with approximately 1193 tons of such waste. Regarding the crossing points, the most used was PTF Giurgiu, but also PTF Călăraşi and PTF Calafat.
At the Coast Guard – where approximately 6 cases were registered , the border police together with the competent authorities from Constanţa County discovered a total of over 156 tons of waste . These were detected in Constanța Port (in containerized system), but also in Vama Veche PTF, respectively Negru Vodă PTF.
ITPF Iaşi, PTF Galaţi – a transport with approximately 19 tons of waste.
ITPF Timisoara, PTF Stamora Moraviţa – a shipment of approximately 19 tons of aluminum waste
Also, depending on the specifics of each case, either criminal files were drawn up , under the aspect of introducing waste into the country for the purpose of elimination and/or not using it for the purpose for which it was introduced – Law 211/2011 on the waste regime, or the measure of not allowing entry into the country for the respective transports was ordered.

Background information:

In accordance with GD 1005/2012 regarding the organization and operation of the National Environmental Guard , the competent authority for waste management at the national level is the National Environmental Guard , an institution subordinate to the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests.

At the border crossing points , for goods of this type that meet the conditions for entry into the country, the customs authorities carry out customs operations, respectively control of the legality of the import. At the same time, according to the legislation in force, the import of waste is done on the basis of the import license , which is issued only with the consent of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests and the Ministry of Health. Thus, the entry into the country of the means of transport, loaded with such goods, is allowed by the customs authorities, only if they are presented with the import license with the written consent of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Health.

From a procedural point of view , the border police notify the Environmental Guard workers who, after analyzing the documents accompanying the goods, check whether the conditions for entry into the country are met. In situations where it is found that the legislation in the field is not respected, the representatives of the Environmental Guard order the measure of not allowing access to the territory of Romania for the goods in question. After the completion of the control activity, the goods are returned, in the country of origin, to the sending commercial companies.