Until when will Croatia dump waste from Pelješac in Neum: There is no legal basis or agreement!

For years, municipal waste from municipalities in neighboring Croatia and from the Pelješac peninsula has been dumped daily in the Neum municipality, in the hinterland of BiH's only coastal city, writes the Patria News Agency.

This problem was presented today at a session of the BiH Parliament by Hanka Vajzović, a DF representative in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament.

- The question concerns the import of municipal waste from the Pelješac peninsula, i.e., from Croatia, and its dumping and disposal in Neum. Since I have information from the field, the question is: on the basis of which international treaty or domestic regulation have border control services been enabling the import of municipal waste, garbage, into our country and its disposal in the hinterland of Neum for years, and so close to the City Administration? Anyone who has been there in the summer must have had problems with fires, smoke, and environmental pollution, as this is a common occurrence. If the import of garbage is prohibited by law, what measures will the Council of Ministers take to stop this practice – said Vajzović.

Mirko Šarović, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, emphasized that there is no legal regulation in BiH that addresses or permits such cross-border transport, there is no agreement with Croatia that allows this international transport, and there is no treaty on which such a practice could be based.

- It should be stated that the Basel Convention permits the cross-border transport of hazardous waste only in cases where the country to which the waste is transported has a recycling facility. BiH and Croatia signed an agreement on cooperation in environmental protection on April 27 this year. To complete the information, it should be said that BiH received 140,000 euros for the remediation of the landfill in Neum, and these activities are underway and are being led by the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism. This issue can serve as an initiative, it should be given significant attention, and the Indirect Taxation Authority, the Border Police, and the Border Management Commission should also be involved in its resolution – stated Šarović.