The Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Kaja Shukova opened the panel discussion on the topic “Environmental tax for oils – legal obligations for the management of oils and waste oils” organized by the Chamber of Commerce of North Macedonia and the company Eco Fluid, which was held today in Skopje. At the event, the competent relevant institutions provided more detailed and specific information about the application of the Law on Extended Producer Responsibility for the Management of Special Waste Streams and the Law on the Management of Additional Waste Streams, especially in the part of presenting the obligations of producers, i.e. oil importers and fats (except burning and cooking oils).
In general, waste management legislation introduced the concept of extended producer responsibility in addition to the “polluter pays” principle. This legal solution regulates the environmental protection measures, which should be fulfilled by economic operators involved in the life cycle of oils, and especially by operators involved in the system for the collection and treatment of waste oils.
Minister Shukova pointed out that the Law on the Management of Additional Waste Streams regulates some specific requirements and conditions for their management.
- The implementation of the Law on the Management of Additional Waste Streams will ensure sustainable production and consumption, a collection, processing and recycling system up to the level achieved in the largest number of European Union countries, minimizing the disposal of waste products as unsorted municipal waste and equal working conditions for producers in the market – said Minister Shukova, adding that the implementation of this law ensures the improvement and protection of human health and the environment.
The panel discussion was organized in order to inform about the importance of the application of these two laws, but also to hear the opinion of the business community on the proposed amendments to the Law on Special Waste Streams that is in Parliamentary procedure, with which at the proposal of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, a reduction of the fee for waste oils is foreseen. Although it is more than clear, that in the direction of a better living environment, the treatment of special waste streams is of exceptional importance, still the laws must be applicable and correspond to the socio-economic situation.
According to Minister Shukova, waste management and the regulation of waste-related issues is one of the biggest challenges of both the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning and the state, and the application of legislation is essential.
The panel discussion initiated an answer to questions related to the implementation of the Law on Extended Producer Responsibility, the way of reporting the quantities of oils, the calculation of the environmental tax in the total price of the product, about all the legal obligations of the producers and many other points related to the legal obligations for which the companies initiated a series of activities in the past period.
The participants of the panel were Ana Karanfilova Maznevska, Head of Department of Waste in the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, Suzane Alili, Head of the Department for Non-tariff measures and protection of intellectual property right – Excise Department, Customs Administration of Republic of North Macedonia, Sreten Stojkovski, Director of the State Environmental Inspectorate and Georgij Curilov, Head of the Department for Legal and Administrative Affairs, Public Procurement Bureau.