Russ Customs Promote Contraband Waste Import

[The.Greenbase@gb.greenpeace.org]

     CUSTOMS PROMOTE CONTRABAND WASTE IMPORT TO RUSSIA

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                   GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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     CUSTOMS PROMOTE CONTRABAND WASTE IMPORT TO RUSSIA

MOSCOW, 17 May 1995 (GP) -- Greenpeace activists today blocked
the main entrance to the GTK (General Customs Committee) in
Moscow with garbage containers depicting the map, the flag and
the arms of Russia, and have suspended a banner reading
"Customs loves foreign waste".

Greenpeace is protesting the Russian customs failure to stop
1,000 tonnes of French toxic waste getting through the border,
onto Russian soil. While the customs did seize the cargo,
instead of sending it back to France, they sold it to a
private business in Russia. This was in spite of an
instruction by the Russian Ministry of Environment to provide
transportation of the waste out of Russia and an agreement by
France to accept the waste back.  Customs sold the waste to
the Russian "Stroimontazh" (St.Petersburg) which has no safe
storage facilities for the highly toxic waste.

"This practice of the customs firstly confiscating and
subsequently selling illegal foreign waste to private
businesses, will attract crowds of waste merchants and piles
of waste in the country", says Oganes Targulyan of Greenpeace
Russia.

The waste was illegally imported to Russia in January, 1994,
under the guise of "recycling". However, it contained
poisonous harmful substances, in particular, cadmium (8-10
percent),
arsenic, thallium (2-3 percent), selen and germanium.  Studies
show that these hazardous substances are toxic to humans, can
be carcinogenic and cause foetal abnormalities in animals.

The originator of the waste is the French UNION MINIERE, while
mediators in the deal are MIDAX (France) and Lev Gubenko
(Israel).

France, having exported hazardous waste to Russia, has
violated the regulations of the Basel Convention, which bans
the export of toxic waste from developed countries to
developing countries. Under the convention, a country which
ratified this international agreement (France) is not entitled
to export waste to a country which did not (Russia). The
Leningrad Committee for the
Environment instructed the customs to transport the waste out
of Russia. A similar request was made to MIDAX by the French
Minister of Environment. Nevertheless, the customs authorised
the Monobalt company to sell it, thus violating a decree by
the Russian Government that such operations be may only be
accomplished with an appropriate license issued by the
Ministry of Environment.

"The customs, having sold foreign waste without a license,
promoted the import of a contraband cargo to the Russian
territory ", added Targulyan. " Customs is there to stop such
waste, not profit from it."

Greenpeace insists this deal be considered invalid and the
waste be returned to France. Russia should not confine itself
within the ratification of the Basel Convention which does not
provide any punishment or counter measures against infringers,
but adopt a national law prohibiting waste import.

For more information contact Ivan Blokov in GP Russia:
phone (7-095-978-39-50)
fax   (7-095-251-90-88)

Or Malini Morzaria Greenpeace Communications 44 171 833
0600. ---