New rules to cut the environmental impact of transporting waste were agreed by European Union lawmakers on Tuesday. The rules governing the shipment of waste are expected to come into force at the start of 2007 after member states give their anticipated final approval.

The measures require reception facilities for waste to keep proper registers, and information about waste transport will have to be published.

The rules cover household and company waste, but not radioactive or animal waste.

"(The measures) will impose stricter rules on notification and monitoring and should encourage the member states to cooperate better in tackling fraudsters," the parliament said in a statement.

The previous parliament had toughened up the proposed rules considerably but the current legislature agreed to reverse the changes ahead of final adoption, leading the Greens to vote against the new rules on Tuesday.

Copyright Reuters, 2005