Logistics

BRUSSELS, June 7, 2021 (Press Release) -At today’s public hearing of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee of the European Parliament, Mr Dimitri Sérafimoff, Chair of the Customs and Indirect Taxation Institute of CLECAT, spoke about the challenges of the implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

‘The conclusion of the trade deal came as good news for businesses on both sides. However, only a swift and effective implementation of the agreement will provide the necessary certainty and predictability and allow industry to reap the benefits of the new deal to keep goods flowing across the EU-UK borders. It is absolutely vital that the implementation of the TCA is supported by proper and pragmatic application of the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland of the Withdrawal Agreement', said Mr Sérafimoff.

'The TCA did not remove the need for businesses to make extensive preparations and adjust their operations. Today, almost five months into the ‘new normal’, we see that many traders are still not fully prepared.’

The industry experienced the changes brought about by the reality of the new trade agreement with new red tape and barriers to the flow of goods, including additional paperwork, customs controls, veterinary/phytosanitary (SPS) checks on food and agricultural products, additional costs and delays. 'The implementation of these new formalities and procedures brought about numerous practical challenges for supply chains which will certainly take time to overcome. But seamless trade across the Channel is a thing of the past.'

As the UK has not yet fully rolled out its border controls on EU imports, with  EU goods entering Great Britain with minimum controls, there will be more challenges upcoming with pre-notification requirements on EU imports of certain goods subject to SPS controls in Great Britain, and full customs declarations at the time of import for all goods. CLECAT continues to stress the need for governments and businesses to make preparations in a timely manner to avoid unnecessary delays and operational chaos.

CLECAT identified a number of areas where further discussions or guidance are needed from the EU and the UK to improve bilateral trade and provide the much-needed ease for businesses. This relates to the need for common SPS standards which will support agri-food supply chains, cooperation on customs security to facilitate legitimate trade, as well as a more pragmatic approach to rules of origin and associated procedures.

BRUSSELS, June 3, 2021 (Press Release) -Severe restrictions on recovered paper exports from Europe to the rest of the world would be “a very big mistake”, warned BIR Paper Division President Jean-Luc Petithuguenin of France-based Paprec in his introductory comments to yesterday’s online meeting. And his view was backed by Dominique Maguin, BIR Past President and Co-Founder of the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC), who argued that tighter export restrictions would be “counter-productive”.

According to EuRIC’s Senior Policy Officer Julia Blees, the European Commission “knows how important recycling is to reach all their goals” relating to a circular economy and climate neutrality. However, the Commission was also intent on seeking a revision of waste shipment regulations that would not only streamline intra-EU movements but also restrict exports beyond Europe, with its draft proposal expected to be published by early autumn this year.

Europe’s surplus of recovered fibre was currently at 7 to 8 million tonnes per year and so exports were “really, really crucial for our industry”, said Ms Blees. The Commission’s proposals allowed for overseas shipments to continue if exporters were able to prove that receiving facilities in other countries were operating under “broadly equivalent conditions” to those in Europe regarding environmental protection and human health. One way this could be achieved, she ventured, was through third-party auditing.

Ms Blees also identified harmonized end-of-waste status for recovered paper as a way forward. “Bearing in mind that several European countries have already enacted it or are in the process of enacting it, it would very much make sense to have a European end-of-waste for the recovered paper sector,” she stated. Mr Maguin also underlined the importance of pursuing end-of-waste status and of removing the “waste” tag from recycling industry products as these carried a value and were destined for use as raw materials.

During a panel discussion moderated by Paprec’s Sébastien Ricard, the need for Europe-wide harmonization not only of end-of-waste status but also of legal procedures and of quality was emphasized by Francisco Donoso of ALBA Servicios Verdes in Spain. BIR Past President Ranjit Singh Baxi of UK-based J&H Sales International agreed that there were significant differences in collection systems throughout Europe and that harmonization of streams was required to help achieve a standardized product for exportation.

Banning or heavily restricting exports would have cost implications for Europe and could even make it cheaper to import paper from Asia. “A lot of new markets are coming up and we need to move our recovered paper to those markets,” he added. “So don’t make international trade or exports more complicated by unnecessary regulation.”

Taking a similar view, Martin Palmer of Stena Group (SWE) urged regulators to “let the market work as freely as possible”.

Commenting on current market conditions, Mr Baxi observed that freight costs had risen by a factor of three or four over the last 18 months, thus making business “very, very difficult”. Both he and Martin Šoth of Pieringer believed the current market was abnormal but was likely to become more settled during the course of 2022.

BIR is the international trade association of the recycling industries. Around 70 countries are represented through their national trade associations and individual companies, which are involved in recycling. BIR comprises four commodity divisions: iron & steel, non-ferrous metals, paper and textiles, and has four commodity committees dealing with stainless steel & special alloys, plastics, tyres & rubber and E-scrap. BIR’s primary goal is to promote recycling and recyclability, thereby conserving natural resources, protecting the environment and facilitating free trade of secondary raw materials.

BRUSSELS, June 1, 2021 (Press Release) -The European Commission is considering changes to EU waste shipment regulations that could prove to be of “tremendous importance” and potentially highly damaging to export flows of many recycling materials, including ferrous and non-ferrous metals, recovered paper and plastics, the latest online meeting of the BIR’s International Environment Council (IEC) was warned yesterday by its Chairman, Olivier François of Galloo.

One of the priorities established for the revision of the regulations is to restrict exports of materials designated as “waste”, including many of the high-specification materials produced by the recycling industry. Europe generated surpluses of “quality secondary raw materials” that could not be absorbed by its domestic market and so “we don’t think waste shipments should be restricted even further”, argued Julia Blees, Senior Policy Officer at the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation. Mr François agreed that such a move could lead to “tension” given that “many developing countries need the raw material”.

According to both speakers, the key phrase in the new Commission proposals is that users in importing countries should be operating under “broadly equivalent conditions” to those applying to consumers in the EU, in terms of both human health and environmental protection. Ms Blees urged that differentiation should be made between shipments to OECD and to non-OECD countries, as the former adhered to very similar standards to those applied in the EU.

A producer perspective was provided to the IEC meeting on May 31 by Aurelio Braconi, Senior Manager - Circular Economy and Raw Materials at European steel association Eurofer. Describing the changes likely to issue from the European Green Deal as a legislative “tsunami”, he expressed concern at the potential for a growing gap between practices and standards in Europe compared to the rest of the world. It was important, he said, that countries importing scrap applied “equivalent conditions” in terms of, for example, environmentally sound management.

Describing scrap as “an essential raw material”, Mr Braconi insisted: “We want to use more ferrous scrap, to recycle more ferrous scrap into new steel and new products, to increase our resource efficiency.” Many producers were looking at ways to “enlarge their product portfolio coming from scrap”. But to achieve this, he added, it was a matter not just of supply and demand but also of quality.

Reviewing other developments of key concern to the recycling sector, BIR Trade & Environment Director Ross Bartley explained that the world recycling organization would be surveying relevant companies later this year in order to assess the cost burden of installing and running systems to detect radioactive metals inadvertently included in consignments arriving at scrap yards. There had to be an appreciation, he said, that the recycling industry was “doing a good job for society” by taking on costs in respect of radioactive sources lost or misplaced mostly by other industries.

Similarly with the persistent organic pollutants falling under the scope of the Stockholm Convention, some products contained “contamination by chemicals that are not allowed to be recycled”, Mr Bartley pointed out. “That is also a cost burden on our industry.”

BIR is the international trade association of the recycling industries. Around 70 countries are represented through their national trade associations and individual companies, which are involved in recycling. BIR comprises four commodity divisions: iron & steel, non-ferrous metals, paper and textiles, and has four commodity committees dealing with stainless steel & special alloys, plastics, tyres & rubber and E-scrap. BIR’s primary goal is to promote recycling and recyclability, thereby conserving natural resources, protecting the environment and facilitating free trade of secondary raw materials.