A Dutch court fined commodities trader Trafigura one million euros on Friday for illegally exporting toxic waste to Ivory Coast which ended up in the open air, and for concealing the waste's harmful nature.

The judge hearing the case said Trafigura was fined because it did what European regulations on toxic waste aimed to prevent, "namely the export of waste to the Third World and harming the environment".

Trafigura said in a statement it would study the ruling with a view to filing an appeal.

"While Trafigura is pleased to have been acquitted of the charge of forgery it is disappointed by the judge's ruling on the other two, which it believes to be incorrect," it said.

"Concerning the delivery of dangerous goods it is important that the court has noted that there was limited risk to human health from these slops, and indeed no damage occurred in Amsterdam," it added.

A federation representing hundreds of thousands of people claiming to be victims of the toxic waste dumped from the ship Probo Koala in Ivory Coast says the conviction handed down in Amsterdam is largely symbolic and won't really help.

Yao Pipira Denis is President of the National Federation of Victims. He says he welcomes the court ruling which sees the company responsible for transporting the waste, Trafigura, being fined a million euros.

But he says it won't really help those directly affected by the dumping of the toxic waste.

"It's a very good thing Trafigura has been found guilty. This story has been going on for four years now and we are satisfied that - for the very first time - there is a ruling. But it isn't a total satisfaction, one million euros is a symbolic amount of money. What we are especially concerned about is the victims and besides a fine we need a civil judgment that will compensate the victims of the Probo Koala."

The federation represents no fewer than 73 organisations totalling over 200,000 people.

Trafigura -- which has made settlements to prevent or end court proceedings in Ivory Coast and Britain -- had chartered the Probo Koala, which wanted to dispose of hundreds of tonnes of chemical slops in Amsterdam in July 2006.

The ship decided against the cleanup in Amsterdam after being told it would have to pay the clean-up costs.

About a month later, the material was dumped in the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan after Trafigura hired a local company to dispose of the waste. Thousands of residents of the city complained of illnesses.

The government of Ivory Coast said 16 people died.

A federation representing hundreds of thousands of people claiming to be victims of the toxic waste dumped from the Probo Koala in Ivory Coast says the conviction handed down in Amsterdam is largely symbolic and won't really help.

Yao Pipira Denis is President of the National Federation of Victims. He says he welcomes the court ruling which sees the company responsible for transporting the waste, Trafigura, being fined a million euros.

But he says it won't really help those directly affected by the dumping of the toxic waste.

"It's a very good thing Trafigura has been found guilty. This story has been going on for four years now and we are satisfied that - for the very first time - there is a ruling. But it isn't a total satisfaction, one million euros is a symbolic amount of money. What we are especially concerned about is the victims and besides a fine we need a civil judgment that will compensate the victims of the Probo Koala."

The federation represents no fewer than 73 organisations totalling over 200,000 people.