The European Union (EU) maintains a system for the supervision and control of shipments of waste within its borders and countries part of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and countries party to the Basel Convention. This system is set out by Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste known as the Waste Shipment Regulations (WSR) whereby the Basel Convention and OECD Decision C(2001)107/FINAL are implemented into EC Law. Hence, Malta being an EU Member State, shipments of waste under Maltese jurisdiction are regulated by the WSR, which are transposed into national legislation by the Waste Management (Shipment of Waste) Regulations (S.L.549.65).
All stakeholders part of the waste cycle have to ensure that waste is managed correctly during all phases. However, the duty of care for shipments of waste is assigned to the notifier which could be anyone in the following order: producers, holders, collectors, dealers and brokers.
Regulations apply automatically once loading of waste commences until all recovery or disposal operations at the designated receiving facility are completed. Failure to abide by these regulations shall be considered a criminal offence punishable by law.
