Port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from ships

Briefing 22-03-2018

This note seeks to provide an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's impact assessment (IA) (consisting of part 1 and part 2), accompanying the above-mentioned proposal, submitted on 16 January 2018 and referred to Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism. Ship-generated waste, such as oily waste, sewage and garbage, poses a significant threat to the marine environment (IA part 1, p.3). The current legal framework laying down the rules applicable to ship-generated waste is Directive 2000/59/EC (hereafter referred to as 'the directive'). The directive is based on the provisions of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (the MARPOL Convention), which was developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO)) and regulates discharges at sea. The directive strengthens the regime established under MARPOL through a port-based approach, focusing on operations in ports, including 1) development of waste reception and handling plans in ports; 2) advance notification of waste by ships before entry into port; 3) mandatory delivery of ship-generated waste; 4) payment of fees by ships for the reception of their ship-generated waste; 5) exemptions for ships engaged in scheduled traffic; 6) inspections to verify compliance with the delivery requirements; and 7) development of an information and monitoring system.