Ministry of Environmental Protection approves several permits for export of metal waste – EU to take no countermeasures?

The Ministry of Environmental Protection decided to approve several permits for export for Serbian companies that collect, process and sell metal waste, Danas learns.

After several EU members complained that Serbia had made it more difficult to issue permits for the export of metal waste by amending the law in May 2017, causing companies in this industry to lose millions of euros and putting Serbia in the position where it violates the Stabilization and Association Agreement, the European Commission recently “threatened” to implement customs duties on certain project, primarily fruit and vegetables.

The fact that countermeasures are being prepared obviously pushed the ministry to approve export permits, but, as Danas writes, the permits to be approved are “insufficient and will only serve to appease the EC”. The current problems of the recycling industry in Serbia, however, will not be solved, as the permits being prepared at the ministry will be issued for the amounts stored at the moment of sampling. As Danas writes, this means that, for example, if the mandatory inspection necessary for a request for the permit to be filed showed that the warehouse contained 3,000 tons of waste, the export permit will be issued for that amount. Considering that a permit is issued for a period of one year, the company will only be able to export the 3,000 tons in the next 12 months, Danas writes.

EU not requiring export permits

As stated in the document The Status and Plans of Enhancement and Implementation of EU Acquis for Chapter 27, when it comes to cross-border waste traffic, Serbia obliged to review its regulations in 2017 and to “achieve full harmonization in 2018 by reviewing bylaws on cross-border waste traffic”. Full harmonization in fact means the abolition of permits (which the document cites as something that hasn't been done yet). On the other hand, no permits are required for export within the EU. There's only a system of notifications, so, for example, the export of metal waste from Croatia requires only a certain form to be filled.

Ministarstvo zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Bruxelles

Stabilization and Association Agreement

SAA

export of metal waste

export of metal waste from Serbia

export of metal waste to the EU

metal waste

permits for export of metal waste

export of fruit from Serbia

export of vegetables from Serbia

export to the EU

export of fruit to the EU

export of vegetables to the EU

customs duties on the export of fruit

customs duties on the export of vegetables

recycling industry in Serbia

Chapter 27

non hazardous waste

export of non hazardous waste