WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.693
17October 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4522)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofHousing, Spatial Planning andtheEnvironment
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Purification system
requirements forthepurification ofhousehold sewage andforinfiltration provisions by
means ofwhich thepurified sewage isintroduced intothesoil.Therequirements mainly
pertain toconstruction andinstallation requirements inArticles 7,8,12and17,which
areprescribed onlyforthisspecific application.
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Decree Regulating the
Dumping ofLiquids intotheSoil(Dumping Decree onSoilProtection)
6. Description ofcontent: TheDecree hasbeen drafted toimplement theECGround
Water Directive (80/68/EEC) andcontains rules fordumping household sewage
(restricted andextensive), cooling water andother liquids intothesoil. Inprinciple,
dumping intothesoilisprohibited. Dumping isallowed inanumber ofcases provided
certain conditions aremet. Dumping ofcooling water andother liquids intothesoilis
banned without dispensation oftherelevant authority. Household sewage should be
discharged intothesewerage system asmuch aspossible. Ifthesewerage network is
toofarremoved, apurification system andaninfiltration provision must beinstalled.
Although Articles 7and8mainly contain construction andinstallation requirements,
these could alsobedeemed verygeneral product requirements. InArticles 12and17,
these Regulations aredeclared toapply accordingly.
7. Objective andrationale: Dumping non-purified liquids intothesoilmayleadtosoil
pollution. TheDecree aimstoestablish ageneral protection level inorder tomeet the
objectives ofDirective 80/68/EEC, regarding dumping intothesoil. Insofar asthedraft
Decree contains quantitative import restrictions ormeasures ofequal effect within the
meaning oftheAgreement onTechnical Barriers toTrade, these measures arejustified
toprotect environmental interests.
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8. Relevant documents:
- Articles 6,15,17,65,67,70,71,92,97and98oftheSoilProtection Act;
- Regulation implementing theDumping Decree onSoilProtection (thedraft
Regulation isbeing notified atthesame timeasthepresent draftDecree).
9. Proposed dateofadoption: 25November 1997
Proposed dateofentry intoforce: 26November 1997
10. Final dateforcomments: 24November 1997
TheNetherlands willproceed toimplement theproposed measure after45days
ifnocomments orrequests forextension ofthetime-limit havebeenreceived from other
Members within thattime.
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point []oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: