On guard against chemical hazards
By Pang Hin Yue
KUALA LUMPUR, Sun. —
In a move to improve surveillance on the movement of hazardous chemicals and toxic waste in the country, officers from the Customs Department and other agencies will undergo a course on identification of dangerous cargoes.
Department of Environment (DOE) deputy director-general Tan Meng Leng told the New Straits Times today the department had prepared the draft module with the aim of minimising untoward incidents like the illegal dumping of 41 drums of the deadly potassium cyanide at the Pangkor resort island’s landfill.
The module, which will be fully implemented from September, is also to prevent dangerous industrial chemicals and pharmaceuticals which are already banned in other countries from being brought into Malaysia.
At present, although there is a standard procedure to monitor the movement of toxic waste in the country by the DOE, there is none for the trading of industrial chemicals which comes under the jurisdiction of other government agencies.
For instance, a trader of deadly chemicals like potassium cyanide is only required to seek an import permit from the Health Ministry. What happens to the chemical after it is imported, where it is transported for use and how it is stored or disposed, is difficult to trace.
Therefore, he said the DOE, recognising the urgency to prevent further illegal dumping of hazardous chemicals and toxic waste as well as illegal entry of banned chemicals, had prepared a module on how to identify these substances.
The course is targeted at officers in the Customs Department, local authorities, the Health Ministry, Transport Ministry and Occupational Safety and Health Department.
"Officers from the Customs and other departments will be trained to identify suspicious cargoes, to take samples from time to time as well as the procedures on how to alert other agencies should they suspect something amiss.
"They will also be taught the various laws pertaining to the import/export of chemicals and toxic waste and how to handle situations upon the discovery of such dangerous goods."
The Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Order 1993 and the Customs (Prohibition of Exports) Order 1993, which came into effect on Aug 12, 1993, list 56 types of toxic waste as prohibited items, whereby permits must first be sought from the DOE before they are allowed to be exported for disposal or imported for recovery.
(Import permits for the disposal of toxic waste are not allowed in Malaysia. Such waste is only imported on the condition that they are to be used in the manufacturing processes under very tight scrutiny.)
He said although the DOE had begun providing training to Customs Department personnel last year in the wake of the Custom Orders, it was done on an ad-hoc basis.
"We shall begin conducting the course in the third quarter of this year," he said.
Source : The New Straits Times 27 March 1995
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