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| 23 July 1998 Sintra, Portugal. After all night, closed session discussions, Environmental Ministers attending the OSPAR Convention in Sintra, Portugal have finally reached an agreement on the two contentious issues of decommissioning and radioactivity. Harzardous Substances: The Sintra signatories have recognised the threat posed by endocrine disruptors. The Sintra Statement has adopted the precautionary principle and agreed the phasing out of hazardous discharges by 2020. WWF response: Patricia Cameron, Toxics Officer said: "The real threat of endocrine disruptors to the marine wildlife has finally been recognised. It is hoped that by adopting the precautionary principle, it will be a warning to the chemical industry that they must take responsibility for the long term impacts of their products". Annex V: Protection of Biodiversity and establishment of Marine Protected Areas. Adopted unanimously. The potential now exists to provide better protection for species such as sharks, turtles, dolphins and whales. WWF response: Marine Policy Officer, Sarah Jones said: "There are still barriers to be overcome. Under the OSPAR Convention the damaging impacts of fishing gears is not covered because of the competence/jurisdiction of the EU, and much of the damage to species comes from gear such as bottom trawls. Shipping is also a problem as any legislation relating to shipping falls within the remit of the IMO." Decommissioning: Agreement has now been reached that decommissioning will now be decided on a weight basis. There will be no dumping or toppling of installations. All structures smaller than 10,000 tonnes will be completely removed. Only the footings on installations larger than 10,000 tonnes will be decided on a case by case basis – although the presumption is against leaving anything. Currently there are about 40 UK and Norwegian rigs in the North East Atlantic that fall into this category and one Dutch rig that the Netherlands will remove. WWF response: Dr Sian Pullen, Head of WWF´s Marine Unit, said: "We must recognise this as a success. The UK and Norway have come a long way but there must be a transparent process for deciding on individual cases." Radioactivity: Land based discharges, as from Sellafield and Cap Le Hague, have been the most contentious issue. The UK, the main opposer to further reductions has now agreed with the remaining OSPAR signatories to discharge levels of near to zero for artificial levels i.e. reprocessed materials – and close to background for naturally occurring radioactivity. Deliberate deep sea dumping: Ministers have agreed to stop deliberate dumping of all radioactive waste at sea. WWF response: Stephan Lutter said: "While we welcome this announcement WWF wishes to see these discharges phased out completely to prevent any radioactive substances from man-made activities reaching the North East Atlantic." Stephan Lutter commenting on the final Sintra Statement welcomed the commitment given by the Environment Ministers and the member of the European Commission. "This statement together with the newly agreed Annex, strategies and decisions represents a significant milestone in marine environmental protection. WWF is particularly pleased that this has been achieved in the International Year of the Ocean. However it is imperative that the Statement is now implemented in the same spirit in which it has been agreed.” WWF contact number: Cherry Farrow +44 (0)468721170 David Cowdrey +44(0)370 238068 Stephan Lutter +49 171 7015346 Sian Pullen +44 (0)468 596021 Sarah Jones – Sylvette Peplowsky +44 (0)370 945233 |