France is a signatory to the Basel Convention, which prohibits the transfer of wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries. Greenpeace reminded the French Government of its obligations to honour the Convention, when activists boarded the Clemenceau on December 12, 2005 and unfurled a banner from its mast, stating "Asbestos carrier. Stay out of India", while it was berthed at the military harbour in Toulon, France. Despite the 23-hour Greenpeace vigil on board the ship, and concerted attempts by activists from the Ban Asbestos Network, Corporate Accountability Desk, and trade unions to stall its departure, the ship was dispatched from France on December 31 and is being towed to a ship-breaking yard in Alang, Gujarat. (1)

"France has behaved shamefully as far as the Clemenceau is concerned. They have lied about the amount of hazardous materials on board, tried to hide behind confidentiality clauses, and deliberately misrepresented facts," accused Ramapati Kumar, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace India, "This is completely unacceptable! France clearly has no respect for the international laws it purports to support, let alone the environment, or the welfare of workers in the ship-breaking yards who will be exposed to the toxic wastes on board this French ship."

Officials from Technopure, the company contracted by the French Government for decontaminating the ship before it was dispatched to India, have gone on public record to confirm that the Clemenceau bears as much as 500 tonnes of asbestos, a far cry from the 45 to 50 tonnes that the French Government has admitted to. The company ended its contract with the French Government and disclosed this information on moral grounds, despite the confidentiality clause they were bound to. Technopure officials declared that France never intended to undertake more than a superficial clean-up of visible toxic substances on board the Clemenceau and deliberately chose the cheapest option they could get away with, despite the knowledge that the wastes on board would result in disease and death for Indian workers and devastation for the Indian environment.

As activist groups have pointed out, the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) in India has also been misled by the SDIC (Ship decommissioning agency) and by ship-breakers. The ship-breakers in turn have been misled by the French government and the SDIC. While the SCMC was assured that 98% of the wastes on board the Clemenceau would be removed in France prior to its arrival in India, in reality this is far from the case. Considering that none of the conditions laid down by the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee have been met (2), Greenpeace is calling on the Ministry of Environment and Forests to revoke its clearance for the Clemenceau, and prohibit its arrival in India. The French Government must fulfil its obligations under the Basel Convention and take full responsibility for the proper decontamination of the Clemenceau, instead of dumping it in ship-breaking yards in India or elsewhere.

"The Clemenceau is French property - as is all the hazardous waste on the ship. They cannot be allowed to dump this waste onto India," said P K Ganguly, Member of the National Working Committee of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, "Simply because India's scrap-yard labour is unorganised, cheap and exploitable, it does not provide carte blanche for France to inflict further harm upon these workers."

"Apart from the havoc that the Clemenceau will wreak on the Indian environment and workers' health, it is also a symbol of the developed world's arrogant assumption that India can be a recipient for their refuse," said G. Ananthapadmanabhan, Executive Director, Greenpeace India, "This is a matter of national shame that should sting every Indian. The Indian government's passive acceptance of this dumping is certainly not in keeping with India's growing international stature."

Notes to the Editor:
1. As per decision VII/26 taken at the COP7 meeting of the Basel Convention ships-for-scrap are considered 'waste'. The Clemenceau, being towed to India, is clearly a consignment of waste-materials, and not a seaworthy ship.

2. The meeting of the SCMC sub-committee on shipbreaking on February 2, 2005, laid down the following conditions for the import of the Clemenceau:
"The Committee indicated that several documents would still have to be submitted by Sree Ram:
* Report of the decontamination in Toulon, France which would provide details of actual quantities of asbestos and other hazardous materials removed from the ship;
* Independent third-party audit verifying the report;   
* Certificate from the French authorities that the ship has been decontaminated and does not violate the provisions of the Basel Convention.

In addition, MoEF shall procure from the French Embassy all the relevant documents relating to the ship including an official statement from the French Government that in its view and that of its own experts, the hazardous materials including asbestos have been removed upto 98% and the balance would be recovered at Alang under guidance and coordination of the company (M/s SDIC Ltd.) as well.

Subject to the above, SCMC has no objection to the arrival and demolition of ship in India.


For further information, please contact:
Ramapati Kumar, Toxics Campaigner, Greenpeace +919845535414 rkumar@dialb.greenpeace.org
Namrata Chowdhary, Media Officer, Greenpeace +919810850092 namrata.chowdhary@dialb.greenpeace.org