NEWS

Tuticorin port recently impounded containers allegedly carrying hazardous wastes, says /Shipping Gazette/, quoting the Malaysian news agency Bernama. The report quotes the Chennai Customs Commissioner as saying that nine containers carrying 195 tonnes of wastes were confiscated after a tip-off. Four containers each from Spain and Saudi Arabia were loaded with metal scraps and plastic wastes while the one from Malaysia had stocks of used gloves and condoms. The boxes have been refused entry into the country for fear they would cause communicable diseases and will be returned to the source country with a penalty slapped on the importers, the report says. In July, it might be recalled, containers carrying hazardous wastes from the UK landed in Brazil but were returned by the Brazilian authorities at the expense of the British Government. The violation of international treaties on the movement of hazardous cargo is a criminal offence and the people held responsible can be fined huge amounts and can even face prison sentences.