Many of us will have been concerned at reports on the new regulations on use of sea toilets in the Netherlands coming into force on January 1st 2009. Enquiries have been made to the Dutch Recreational Waterways Foundation and the key extracts from their response are as follows:


"For all recreational vessels: The waste discharge ban will apply to all new and existing Dutch and foreign recreational vessels that have on-board toilets, as defined in the Recreational Craft Directive. Only special groups, such as historical vessels, are exempted from the ban."
"Please note that installing a holding tank is not compulsory; it is just that you are no longer permitted to discharge waste into the water. Of course, you could also make use of the toilet facilities onshore or have another sort of toilet on board, such as a vacuum or portable (chemical) toilet."


The reference to "historical vessels" and the RCD appears to refer to the Exclusions to the RCD 94/25/EC amended 2003/44/EC:- "Original and individual replicas of historical craft designed before 1950, built predominantly with the original materials."