Pre-shipment inspection agencies have until 7 June to reapply for certification that will enable them to approve shipments of scrap to India under the Indian government’s strict new metal scrap import regulations. All existing certifications will be invalidated when the new rules, which include the requirement that the entire loading and inspection process is recorded by video or photo, come into effect from 1 July.

India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade (Dgft) announced the new regulations in its latest foreign trade policy. It previously required a 3-5 minute detailed video of the inspection; however, it now says photos are an acceptable alternative. Agencies that carry out pre-shipment inspections will also be required to provide extensive details to Indian authorities before inspecting shipments in countries without agency representation.

The move has been made in response to radioactive and explosive material being found in several scrap imports into India. Despite criticism of the severity of the regulations, which many fear will lead to reduced scrap shipments to India, the home affairs ministry has ruled the security of the country takes priority. This is especially so with the increasing threat of terrorism, according to Metal Recycling Association of India (MRAI) president Ikbal Nathani.

“Dgft is hell-bent on this new procedure,” Nathani said at Tuesday’s Bureau of International Recycling convention in Dubai attended by Kallanish. However, MRAI is seeking two concessions from the directorate, he continued. One is to allow for self-certification of scrap yards that already inspect and monitor material for explosives or radiation. This would remove the need for a third-party inspection agency.

The second concession is “to exempt shredded scrap from requiring an inspection certificate because… when an automobile goes through a shredder, a hammer mill, if there’s any explosive in the scrap, it will explode at that time – there’s no radiation because each of those yards that have a shredder have their own gate monitors,” Nathani observed. If these two conditions are granted, “that will take care of 18% of India’s [metal scrap] imports”, he added.

Although MRAI is initially pushing for scrap yards and processors to be self-certified, it also later wants to include traders and brokers, said association VP Dhawal Shah. “But there would need to be clarity over where the material comes from – this would have to be disclosed to Dgft,” he observed.

MRAI urged scrap merchants to inform inspection agencies in their respective countries of the necessity to reapply for certification.