Following EUROFER and Recycling Europa’s opposition to exemption from Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirements in Türkiye, as well as their call on 29 May for ship recycling facilities to be removed from the EU list unless they fully comply with environmental and occupational safety standards, Turkish ministries have prepared new regulations.
The “Regulation on Authorization of Ship Recycling Facilities,” prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, has been published in the Offical Newspaper and entered into force.
The regulation stipulates that ship recycling activities in Türkiye will be carried out under the framework of the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, adopted in 2009, and that facilities will be authorized accordingly.
Under the new rules, facilities must prepare a Turkish “Ship Recycling Plan” (SRP) for each vessel to be dismantled, and this plan will be translated into foreign languages when necessary. The plans will be reviewed under the coordination of the ministries, and no ship recycling activity can be carried out without approval. In addition, facilities must prepare a “Ship Recycling Facility Plan” (SRFP) and submit information regarding their management structure, technical infrastructure, and sealing systems.
Environmental protection and occupational health and safety rules
The regulation makes it mandatory for facilities to establish infrastructure to prevent hazardous materials and waste from coming into contact with the environment during dismantling operations. Facilities without systems to prevent liquid waste from leaking into nature, and those that do not comply with environmental legislation, will not be granted permission. In addition, facilities must carry out annual monitoring of seawater, sediment, and biota to assess environmental impacts, and submit the results to the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change.
Within the scope of occupational health and safety, facilities must establish entry and exit recording systems for employees, vehicles, and visitors. These records must be stored for specified periods. Equipment used at the facilities must also be regularly inspected by Type A inspection bodies authorized by the Turkish Accreditation Agency.
The regulation also introduces administrative penalties for non-compliance. Facilities that act contrary to the approved plans or fail to update their databases will be fined 100,000 Turkish lira, while those that fail to meet notification obligations or obstruct inspection processes will face fines of 500,000 Turkish lira.
For unauthorized ship recycling activities, higher penalties are предусмотрed. Real or legal persons found carrying out illegal dismantling activities will be fined 1 million Turkish lira for each violation. Employees involved in such activities will also be subject to administrative fines.
If the same violation is repeated three times within the same calendar year, the ship recycling authorization certificates of the facilities will be suspended for three months and their operations will be halted.
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