The authorities have stopped two containers carrying around 40 tons of suspected waste at the Port of Constanța, preventing their import into Romania, the Border Police announced. The containers had arrived from Tunisia and were bound for a Romanian company.

Border police officers from the Coast Guard, working alongside customs inspectors and environmental commissioners, carried out checks on the containers on January 20, after they arrived from Tunisia. During inspections, officials found hoses, cables, pieces of rigid material, and a white, crumbly substance inside the containers.

The materials, the Border Police said, did not match the characteristics of the goods declared in the shipping documents.

“Commissioners from the National Environmental Guard – Constanța County Commissariat concluded that there are reasonable suspicions that the materials in question are waste, under Government Decision No. 856/2008 on waste classification, namely waste resulting from construction and demolition activities, as well as plastic waste,” reads the press release.

As a result, officials ordered the return of the two containers to the country of origin.

A criminal investigation has also been opened for breaches of Romania’s waste management laws, with inquiries being conducted under the coordination of a specialised prosecutor from the Constanța court prosecutor’s office.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Politiadefrontiera.ro)