Vol. 472 No. 6
26 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for the Marine the progress, if any, which has been made in expanding the EU definition of dangerous goods as covered by the HAZMAT directive to include those covered by the INF code; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19908/96]
As the Deputy will be aware, under Directive 93/75/EEC, known as HAZMAT, which came into force in September 1995, vessels carrying dangerous or polluting goods and bound for or leaving a port in an EU member state, are required to notify designated national authorities of their intended route and cargo on board. The directive's definition of dangerous and polluting goods does not, however, include those materials covered by the IMO's code for the safe carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive waste in flasks on board ships, INF code.
In view of Ireland's concern about shipment of nuclear materials in general, and particularly through the Irish Sea, we have been pressing for some time to have this serious anomaly addressed. While the European Commission indicated its support in principle for Ireland's position many months ago, I insisted that this sentiment should be translated into positive action and should form part of the Irish Presidency agenda.
As a result, the Commission introduced at the October meeting of the Council of Transport Minister a proposal for a Council Directive amending the HAZMAT directive. The purpose of this amending directive is to extend the scope of the HAZMAT directive to cover the carriage of materials included in the INF code; to supplement information given in the annexes to the directive in light of developments in international legislation; and to facilitate the amendment of those annexes in light of future developments in international legislation by applying the committee procedure.
