EU under pressure to toughen ship recycling regulation

In the Bangladesh port city of Chittagong, activists want the EU to get tough on the booming ship recycling industry that has become notorious for its poor labour and environmental safety records. New EU legislation is already in the making and could be finalised in June.

Negotiators from the European Parliament, Commission and Council were meeting on the 7 May 2013 in the first round of talks aimed at hammering out a regulation on the scrapping of old ships – many of which end up in South Asia for dismantling and recycling.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background Information: EU pressures Bangladesh to improve labour standards http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-pressures-bangladesh-to-improve-labour-standards/

ESO: Background Information: Proposal for a Council Decision requiring Member States to ratify or to accede to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009, in the interests of the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/proposal-for-a-council-decision-requiring-member-states-to-ratify-or-to-accede-to-the-hong-kong-international-convention-for-the-safe-and-environmentally-sound-recycling-of-ships-2009-in-the-interes/

ESO: Background Information: Press Release: Environment Council meeting, Luxembourg, 25 October 2012 http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-environment-council-meeting-luxembourg-25-october-2012/

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