Summer session 2021 of the Contracting Parties Conference

Strasbourg, 22.06.2021 – The Conference of the Contracting Parties (CPC) met by video conference on 22 June 2021 for its summer meeting. Chaired by Mrs Muriel Bouldouyré, head of the French delegation to the CDNI, the meeting brought together the representatives of the six Contracting Parties and representatives of national institutions.
 
During this productive meeting, the CPC focused on the following subjects:

• the effects of the health crisis on the financing system in Part A and the amount of the disposal charge in 2022 (resolution),
• the recommendations and specific next steps subsequent to the round table on the future of Part A,
• the new provisions on degassing,
• the extension of the discharge ban to vessels with more than 12 passengers (resolution) and
• international harmonisation for sorting waste on board (resolution).

Part A: oily and greasy waste

Round table on the future of Part A: recommendations on specific areas of work

 
A round table on the future of Part A was held online on 8 April 2021, chaired by Mrs Bouldouyré (Chair of the CPC, head of the French delegation to the CDNI) and moderated by Mr Roland Blessinger (Chair of the CDNI Working group, Swiss delegation).
 
In keeping with the CDNI’s ethos since its inception, the round table aimed to bring together States, the profession, and the relevant organisations in order jointly to identify the solutions to be implemented to ensure the sustainability of the international indirect financing system, and to anticipate future challenges:

• constantly escalating costs,
• external factors as evidenced by the Covid-19 pandemic,
• the need to address the needs of the profession (availability of the service, geographical coverage) to enable it to fulfil its environmental commitments.

 
The round table was an opportunity to identify development areas and work priorities over the next few years. The CPC adopted recommendations that will be prioritised and distilled into specific tasks for the new work programme.
 
An important observation by the profession is a very high degree of satisfaction with the high quality of the services currently provided and the desire to maintain current service quality to the greatest extent possible.
The International Clearance and Coordination Body (ICCB), the body responsible for Part A, and expert groups will work on different topics: monitoring of the network’s efficiency and effectiveness, innovations and synergies, reducing waste volumes, impact of new methods of propulsion, etc.
 
It is intended that the outcome of these activities will inform thinking on how to consolidate a strategy to ensure the sustainability of the international financing system.
 

Disposal charge: charge to be kept at €8.50 / 1000 litres on 1st January 2022

 
The disposal charge for oily and greasy waste has been €8.50 for 1000 litres of zero-rated bunkered gasoil since 1st January 2021.
 
The Conference of the Contracting Parties studied the report on the annual evaluation of the financing system presented by the international clearance and coordination body. This document pays particular attention to the increase in costs and revenues since 2011, the date on which the financing system came into force.
  
The report also features an overview of the economic situation of transport on the Rhine in 2020 and an initial evaluation of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the system. Compared with 2019, disposal charge receipts suffered a significant 5.74% decline. This decline in receipts is attributable in particular to the reduction in freight transport demand and to the significant decline in passenger navigation activity, which should resume in 2021. The CPC noted that it is premature at this time to draw conclusions on the effects of increasing the disposal charge to €8.50 for 1000 litres of gasoil enacted in the exceptional context of the Covid-19 virus pandemic (low receipts).
  
Given this exceptional situation and the surplus that still exists within the system (see details in the report on the stability of the system), the CPC decided to maintain the charge at €8.50 on 1st January 2022 and instructed the ICCB to keep a close eye on receipts in 2021 and the consequences of the crisis.
  
The ICCB’s annual reports are published on the CDNI’s website.
They also contain an exhaustive description of the reception station network by country.
  
Resolution 2021-I-3
 

Part B: cargo-related waste

Ratification status of the provisions for dealing with gaseous residues of liquid cargoes

 
The Contracting Parties Parties noted the state of progress with the procedures for ratifying the amendment to the Convention adopted in June 2017 (see Resolution 2017-I-4).
 
To date, three signatory States have ratified the new provisions for dealing with gaseous residues of liquid cargoes. Luxembourg deposited the instrument of ratification on 7 February 2020. The Netherlands deposited its instrument of approval at the end of the lockdown period on 3 July 2020. Germany deposited the instrument on 9 February 2021.
 
As for Belgium, France and Switzerland, their work on ratification is continuing at national level. Parliamentary procedures were affected by the health crisis.
 
The amended Convention will come into force six months after the final instrument of ratification has been lodged with the depository authority, the Secretary-General of the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR).
 
Some degassing stations are already operational and accessible. The CPC confirmed the online publication of a public map of degassing stations for information purposes. They can be geo-located by means of an interactive map available here (go-live date beginning of July).
 
All the information on degassing regulations can be found on the dedicated page on the website.
 

Electronic attestation of unloading

 
The CPC adopted an amendment to article 6.23 of the Implementing Regulation with a view to the use of the attestation of unloading in electronic format.
 
This document is essential to implementation of the CDNI: it enables documentation of the correct performance of the unloading procedure and of the disposal of potential waste.
 
The dematerialisation of the attestation unloading helps improve information quality, logistical efficiency and the harmonised use of the document, especially for supervisory purposes. It also aims to reduce the administrative workload, in response to a keenly felt expectation by the profession. Users who so desire will be able to continue using the paper format.
 
The resolution will come into force on 1st June 2022.
 
Resolution 2021-I-5
 

Part C: other waste

Extension of the scope of the ban on the discharging of passenger vessel domestic waste water

 
The Conference of the Contracting parties adopted an amendment to Part C to extend the ban on the discharging of domestic waste water to vessels with between 12 and 50 passengers. This prohibition is a major step forward in protecting the environment and water quality. It will come into force on 1st January 2025. The necessary domestic waste water reception infrastructure appropriate to this fleet needs to be created by that date. The impact study in the annex to the resolution quantifies the costs and the fleet in question.
 
The ban on discharging only concerns passenger vessels that have been in service since 30 December 2008, currently subject to the requirement to be equipped with a wastewater collection tank or an on-board sewage treatment plant.
Vessels in service prior to 30 December 2008 already enjoy transitional provisions and other derogations to the technical requirements for vessels. The European Committee for drawing up Standards in the field of Inland Navigation (CESNI) began consultations and work to shorten these transitional provision timescales in the ES-TRIN (European standard laying down technical requirements for inland navigation vessels). The CESNI and the CPC are cooperating to ensure that a vessel can in practice comply with stringent environmental requirements while taking account of the vessel’s technical equipment.
 
Resolution 2021-I-6
 

International harmonisation of the sorting of domestic waste on board

 
The Conference of the Contracting Parties adopted an amendment to article 9.23 of the Implementing Regulation. The waste categories have been extended and refined (in particular to take account of plastics and packaging waste) with a view to improving selective sorting aboard vessels.
 
The resolution is accompanied by guidelines comprising clear and recognisable symbols, which are an essential tool for uniform implementation on board at international level.
 
Better sorting and separate collection of this waste throughout the disposal chain will encourage the recycling of useful materials, and the boatmaster can reduce the volume of residual waste. The environment and navigable waterways will benefit from this.
 
Several initiatives in the CDNI’s next work programme could support the successful distribution of the guidelines within the navigation sector.
 

FAQ

 
The CPC regularly takes note of the answers to the frequently asked questions (FAQ) prepared by the CDNI/G Working group and approves their publication on the CDNI website www.cdni-iwt.org under the FAQ heading. These answers aim to facilitate application of the CDNI and to promote a consistent interpretation.
 
At its meeting in June 2021, the CPC approved a new FAQ confirming that tanks and receptacles for residual products must comply with the provisions of the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways (ADN).
 

2021 meetings

 
The next meeting of the CPC will be on 13 December 2021.
The working group will meet for an exceptional session on 31 August then in ordinary session on 3 and 4 November.
The international clearance and coordination body (ICCB) will meet on 25 November.
 
All the meeting dates, and agendas, are available on the CDNI website’s dedicated page.
 

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