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Waste

The Customs administration monitors shipments of waste to non-EU countries as well as intra-Community shipments through Germany.

Authorised border customs offices on the external borders of the EU are responsible for customs border inspections of waste from non-EU countries.

Note

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection announces which German customs offices are competent for shipments of waste. They are listed in the Customs administration directory where they are identified by the note "Abfertigung von Abfällen zur Ein-, Aus- und Durchfuhr gemäß Art. 55 Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1013/2006 in Verbindung mit § 17 Abfallverbringungsgesetz" (Clearance of waste for import, export, or transit as laid down in Art. 55 of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 in conjunction with section 17 of the Act on the shipment of waste).

Depending on the type of waste, the type of intended disposal or recovery, and the countries concerned with the shipment’s transit, the specific cross-border movement is either prohibited in principle or

  • it is subject to the procedure of prior written notification to, and consent by, the competent authorities (movement document as set out in Annex I B of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006), or
  • it is subject to the general information requirements (shipping information as set out in Annex VII of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006).

In either case the required documents must be submitted to the authorised customs office as part of the waste clearance procedure.

You can find information about waste legislation on the websites of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz - BMUV), the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt - UBA) and the specifically competent authorities.

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