PACE to look into radioactive metal from Ukraine

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs has agreed to discuss the petition of seven countries – the Russian Federation, UK, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Macedonia, Portugal and Sweden - entitled “Project of Recommendations Concerning the Protection of the European Union against radioactive metal products from Ukraine' during its next meeting in January 2007. The petition in question states, ’The current danger from the Ukrainian radioactive metal products is rising in parallel with the increase in exports of metal products from this country'. Annually Ukraine exports about 20 million metric tons of metal products. The initiators of the petition document draw attention to the possibility of the appearance of ’deadly' metal in the EU market in the form of the main Ukrainian exports – pipes, rebars and other metal products. Several countries, including Syria, Kuwait, Jordan and UAE, concerned about possible imports of radioactive scrap from Ukraine, have already imposed a mandatory check for radioactive elements on all metal products from Ukraine. The petition document was recently signed by 10 members – from the seven above-mentioned countries - of the PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affaires.