The government has made pre-shipment inspection certification (PIC) compulsory for imports of shredded metal scrap, including ferrous and non-ferrous metals, effective from March 23, 2009.
Importer will have to furnish a copy of the contract to the exporter stipulating that the consignment does not contain any radioactive contaminated material in any form at the time clearance of goods, as per the circular issued by the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) on Monday.
Import from Hodaideh, Yemen and Bandar Abbas, Iran will be in shredded form only, a circular said.
?Importer of metal scrap will have to submit pre-shipment inspection certificate (PIC) to the customs department at the time of clearance of goods for import of metallic waste and scrap in shredded form. It will be a time consuming process for importers and additional burden on the trade,? Rohit Shah, director, Bombay Metal Exchange (BME) told FE. The PIC certificate given by any of the inspection and certification agencies will have to specify that the consignment does not contain radioactive contaminated material in any form,? he said.
?It is difficult to say the exact volume of metal scrap imports, both ferrous and non-ferrous, but we are importing sizable quantities every year,? he said.
?The customs department put on hold the release of about 20 containers (about 400-500 tonne) at the Nhava Sheva port after the circular issued by the authority. The containers include scrap materials (dross, residue and ash) of copper, brass and zinc,? Rasik Kothari, president, Bombay Non-ferrous Metals Association Ltd said. Earlier, the procedure for import of metallic waste and scrap had been tightened with the imposition of port restrictions and a system of 100% inspection by customs authorities.
The country imports all types of metallic scraps (shredded and unshredded form) from EU, USA, Australia and Middle East.
Ferrous scrap volumes into India are down. Indian imports of US ferrous shredded scrap dropped to 42,800 tonne in January, about a third of the 1.28 lakh tonne imported in December, according to Platts report.