Brazil to lodge complaint over UK toxic waste export

• Wiltshire police arrest three men in connection with alleged 99 containers• Environment Agency says it will return waste to the UK and prosecute those responsible
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 July 2009 11.06 BST

The Brazilian government has said it will lodge a formal complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the alleged export of illegal waste from the UK.
The move comes as three men were arrested as part of an Environment Agency investigation into the alleged export of 99 shipping containers of waste to the South American country.
The complaint to the WTO will be based on the Basel Convention, which bans shipments of toxic waste from industrialised nations, Brazil's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Officers from the Environment Agency's national environmental crime team raided three properties in the Swindon area yesterday as part of its investigations into the origin of 1,400 tonnes of material reportedly found in Brazilian ports.
Wiltshire police arrested three men, aged 49, 28 and 24, in connection with the Environment Agency's investigation.
Authorities in the South American country have claimed at least two of the containers were filled with a mixture of household and clinical waste, including syringes and condoms.
But the Environment Agency (EA), which has said it will take back the waste from Brazil, said it could not yet confirm what the containers had in them.
The rubbish, which will be transported back to the UK by the shipping lines which took them to Brazil, will be investigated and then disposed of correctly, the EA said.
Liz Parkes, head of waste and resource management at the Environment Agency, said the arrests marked significant progress in the investigation.
"We are working with the shipping lines for the return of the waste, at their own expense, and are planning to carry out an investigation of the containers once they have been released by Brazilian authorities and returned to the UK.
"The Environment Agency enforces the export of recyclable waste from England and Wales and will not hesitate to prosecute any company or individuals found to have breached the strict laws on the export of waste," she said.
Waste can be sent abroad for recycling, but it is illegal to export it for disposal. The maximum penalty for breaking the rules is an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.