The rapporteur, Mr VIRGIN, pointed out that the three amendments adopted in committee incorporated the results of the Conference of the Parties to the recent Basle Convention. One of the amendments sought to ban exports from OECD countries to non-OECD countries of hazardous waste to be disposed of (effective immediately) or recycled (from 1 January 1998). A further amendment proposed adding to the export ban hazardous waste covered by the Basle Convention’s definition of hazardous waste. The rapporteur recognised the Commission’s difficult task as guardian of the environment: it had to deal with pressure groups on the one hand, and the resistance of certain Member States, which wanted to retain the possibility of exporting their hazardous waste, on the other. The Commissioner, Mrs BJERREGAARD, stated that the main objective was to extend the net of protection; from 1 January 1998 there would be a complete ban on exporting waste, in accordance with the Basle Convention. The Commission was committed to this proposal, particularly as regards the recycling of waste.