The Minister of the Environment, Tanchos Barna, says that the Romanian authorities will change the legislation on the import of second-hand goods, in particular textiles, writes News.ro. “If a lot of textiles are brought in as second-hand, but 90% are thrown away and 10% are put on the shelf for resale, this is not good. That is why much clearer regulation is needed for household appliances, for any appliances and for textiles,” the minister believes.

Tanchos Barna noted that as a pilot project, Romania has implemented an information system to track waste coming into the country with more than 3,000 tons of waste returning from abroad. According to him, attempts to illegally import waste into Romania are still taking place.

“Everything is not perfect yet, there is still work to be done, because there are still attempts to bypass checkpoints that are allowed, to enter at night, to declare waste as used. That is why in the coming weeks and months we will develop a new regulation for second-hand goods, including clothes, because they also represent a huge pressure on Romania. If a lot of textiles are brought in as second-hand, but 90% are thrown away and 10% are put on the shelf for resale, this is not good. That is why there is a need for clearer regulation of what is meant by second-hand and what is meant by reusable in the case of electrical appliances, any type of equipment and textiles. We will also strengthen control there,” Tanchos Barna said on TVR Info on Monday evening.

According to him, a lot of waste comes to Romania, which are IT components, textiles, tires, these are the areas in which the authorities want to improve the control system.