Source: Secretariat of the CDNI
Strasbourg, 07.06.2023 – The French Republic has ratified the amendment to the Convention on the collection, deposit and reception of waste produced during navigation on the Rhine and inland waterways (CDNI). The deposition of the instrument of ratification is a new important step towards the entry into force of the amendment. This major amendment to the Convention aims to protect the environment and maintain air quality by means of strict regulation of the degassing of inland navigation vessels.
The instrument of ratification was deposited by Diégo COLAS, Director of legal affairs at the French Ministry of European and Foreign Affairs. The deposition took place on Thursday 7 June 2023, at the Palais du Rhin in Strasbourg. lt was made to the Secretary General of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), Mrs Lucia Luijten, who is the depository of the CDNI.
The amendment aims to introduce a gradual prohibition of degassing in the scope of application of the CDNI to prevent harmful gaseous cargo residues being released into the atmosphere. After certain volatile organic compounds have been removed, these vapours remain behind in tankers’ holds: they need to be disposed of before loading the next cargo, when they cannot be evacuated into a tank ashore by means of a vapour recovery system. The six Contracting States of the CDNI adopted these new regulations which provide for the necessary procedures for receiving and handling these gaseous residues.
After the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Belgium, the French Republic is the fifth Contracting State to deposit its instrument of ratification. The ratification procedure is ongoing in Switzerland: the instrument should be deposited before the end of the year. The amendment will come into force six months after the last instrument of ratification has been deposited.
Additional information on the new degassing provisions and their implementation is available at: https://www.cdni-iwt.org/part-b-degassing/?lang=en.