Gov’t to heed court order to return trash to Canada

TRASH packed in container vans that were shipped from Canada in 2013 are unloaded at the sanitary landfill of the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. in Capas, Tarlac. PHOTO COURTESY OF MCWMC

AN INTERAGENCY committee that includes the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said on Tuesday it welcomed a Manila court’s order to ship back containers of garbage to Canada.

A government statement said on Tuesday the court order covered 50 forty-foot containers found to have assorted heterogeneous plastic materials all consigned to Chronic Plastics Inc.

The interagency committee is composed of the BOC, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Justice.

The containers are kept at the Subic and Manila International Container Yards.

“(These) are said to be causing port congestion, posing hazards to public health and incurring expenses on the part of the BOC,” the agency said in a statement.

Last June 30, Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 1 Judge Tita Bughao-Alisuag, ordered the shipping back of the wastes to Canada at the expense of the importer.

The BOC said the Manila court is expected to conduct another hearing on Sept. 30 and the DOJ is set to file a motion for the execution of the order.

In 2013, the BOC reported that 50 shipping containers from Canada contained smuggled wastes which were misdeclared as plastic scraps.

More containers from Canada were found last year, bringing the total number of shipping containers to 103. Julie M. Aurelio