OECD
Promotes Environmentally Sustainable Transport
The Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) is hosting a series of workshops
and conference to improve compliance environmentally
sustainable transport policies. The first event,
a workshop entitled Communicating Environmentally
Sustainable Transport - The roles of soft measures
in achieving Environmentally Sustainable Transport,
was held in Berlin, Germany, from December 5-6,
2002. It explored how soft measures, a means of
promoting voluntary compliance, can be used to encourage
Environmentally Sustainable Transport. Progress
towards Environmentally Sustainable Transport requires
a mix of measures designed to achieve the necessary
changes in vehicles, infrastructure and transport-related
behavior. The workshop explored how soft measures
(information, communications strategies, and education),
as well as media, advertising and marketing, can
best contribute to the attainment of Environmentally
Sustainable Transport.
The
same OECD program also hosted the International
Conference on Environmentally Sustainable Transport
in the Asian Region on March, 23-25 2003,
Nagoya, Japan, which reviewed transport trends
and priorities in the light of sustainability
requirements for the Asian region and identified
options and best practices in the area of technology,
new mobility services, and freight logistics.
Policy implications of environmentally sustainable
transport were discussed with a view to assisting
governments, the private sector, and the public
with the implementation of the Environmentally
Sustainable Transport Guidelines. Specific recommendations
drawn from these discussions will form the basis
for a Declaration on EST in the Asian region.
For more information on the conference, visit
OECD's Environmentally Sustainable Transport Theme
page at http://www.oecd.org/EN/home/0,,EN-home-518-nodirectorate-no-no-no-8,00.html.
 BERCEN
Celebrates First Anniversary
The Secretariat of the Balkan Environmental Regulatory
Compliance and Enforcement Network (BERCEN) celebrated
its first anniversary on December 4, 2002. BERCEN
was established by high-level officials from the
environmental ministries of South Eastern Europe
in Tirana, Albania, in December 2001.
The
current member countries of BERCEN are: Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro,
and FYR Macedonia are the current members of BERCEN.
Bulgaria and Romania are permanent observers.
The
first-year results of activities were impressive
and included:
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Country
and regional needs assessments published on
the Internet. |
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Developed 'Train the Trainer,' a training
program organized for environmental inspectors. |
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Small
supplies and vehicles delivered to enforcement
agencies and inspectorates. |
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Assistance
in identifying of priorities, including the
most urgent needs in environmental enforcement
and compliance. |
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1st
BERCEN exchange program on Integrated Pollution
Prevention and Control (IPPC) organized for
environmental inspectors. |
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1st
BERCEN plenary meeting held for the BERCEN
National Coordinators. |
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Adopted
Network Recommendation for Preparatory
Activities for Introduction of IPPC Directive
in the BERCEN Member Countries. |
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Adopted
Network Recommendation for Implementation
in the BERCEN Member Countries of the Recommendation
of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 4 April 2001 providing for minimum
criteria for environmental inspections in
the Member States. |
All
these activities have been carried out in close
cooperation with the relevant ministries, environmental
inspectorates, local and international experts;
country offices of the Regional Environmental
Center for Central and Eastern Europe; and INECE.
BERCEN
will hold its 2nd exchange program in April, and
2nd plenary meeting in mid-2003. For more information,
visit http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/REREP/BERCEN.
 Dutch
Inspectorate Blocks Import of Cadmium-Containing
Products
The Dutch VROM-Inspectorate blocked the import
of 2.5 million products worth approximately $248
million USD (€ 226 million) due to significantly
high levels of cadmium. The materials were detected
by Customs in the Dutch city of Tilburg at the
European distribution center of Sony. The quantity
of cadmium ranged from 3 to 30 times the allowed
concentration. Sony tried to reverse the ban on
the products, but the VROM-Inspectorate imposed
a penalty with a maximum of $18.5 million (€
17 million). All products were transported to
the United Kingdom, where the parts of the products
with illegally high levels of cadmium were replaced
and destroyed.
After
this incident, Sony reorganized its internal structure
in such a way that the responsibility for environmental
issues is now at a high level in their organization.
They also have started a system of Green Partnership
in which all their suppliers are required to participate.
Audits will be held and if a supplier does not
meet the Green Partner requirements, he or she
will be in danger of losing distributor status.
The
Dutch VROM-Inspectorate has the impression that
many producers and suppliers are still not aware
of cadmium in their products and may face the
same problems. Contact albert.zwerver@minvrom.nl
for more information.
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