Ospar Convention Enters Into Force Today

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

OSPAR CONVENTION ENTERS INTO FORCE TODAY

Greenpeace calls on Ospar Governments to ban dumping of offshore
installations and stop radioactive and toxic marine discharges.

Amsterdam, 25 March 1998 --- Greenpeace welcomed the
announcement by the OSPAR Secretariat that the OSPAR Convention
for the Protection of the North East Atlantic officially entered
into force today, after being ratified by all the countries
bordering the North East Atlantic (1).

According to the OSPAR Convention, the member states have the
legal obligation "to take all possible steps to prevent and
eliminate pollution and shall take the necessary measures to
protect the maritime area against the adverse effects of human
activities [...]". (2)

"The entry into force of the OSPAR Convention today opens the
way to achieving bans on the dumping of decommissioned offshore
installations, radioactive waste discharges and toxic waste
discharges from Gibraltar to the Arctic, including the North
Sea", said Remi Parmentier of Greenpeace.

Parmentier said that these proposals are tabled for
consideration by a Ministerial Conference of the OSPAR member
states, which will take place in Lisbon on 20-24 July this year
(3).

In the Year of the Ocean declared by the United Nations,
Greenpeace is calling on the OSPAR Ministers to actively support
banning the dumping of offshore installations, and the discharge
of radioactive and toxic substances in the sea, in line with
their obligation to take all possible steps to protect the
marine environment. 

--- end ---

Greenpeace on the Internet at http://www.greenpeace.org

Notes to the Editors

(1) The OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the North East
Atlantic was signed in September 1992 to replace the 1972 Oslo
Convention on ocean dumping and the 1974 Paris Convention on
land-based sources of marine pollution. It has now been ratified
by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the European
Commission. 

(2) Article 2.1.(a) of the OSPAR Convention.

(3) The key issues which will be discussed at the Ministerial
Meeting in Lisbon are:

a) a ban on the dumping of offshore oil and gas installations.
The proposal to ban the dumping of offshore installations at sea
is supported by virtually all OSPAR member states with
exceptions from the UK and Norway. 
b) an end to the discharge of radioactive substances into the
marine environment. Ireland, Denmark, Iceland, and other
countries are calling for an end to the discharge of nuclear
reprocessing wastes from Sellafield, Dounreay (UK) and La Hague
(France), 
c) an end to the discharge of harmful toxic chemicals, such
as dioxin, endocrine disruptors and organohalogens, into the
sea. The Nordic and other countries are seeking "Zero Discharge"
of toxic waste.