BIR Report

A survey on scrap shipping restrictions sent by the European Union to non-OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)] nations has garnered few responses. For those nations not responding, recyclers will have new rules to implement beginning in mid-July.

"Of international importance to trade in recyclables, in particular from the EU27 Member States to countries that don’t implement the OECD Decision, the new revised European Waste Shipments Regulation will be applied from 12th July 2007," notes the BIR in a news release.

That new regulation requires the European Union to give each of those countries the option to have the EU27 exports of non-hazardous wastes for recycling and recovery either: (a) prohibited to their country; (b) controlled under prior written notification and consent (sometimes called "red controls"); or (c) to allow them under normal commercial transactions.

Shippers used to complying with the current regulations, in existence since 1999, "will recognize the simplifications to the new regulation that were proposed and subsequently supported by the European Trade Federations EFR, EUROMETREC and ERP federations of BIR," the trade group says.

Some new responses to the European Commission’s questionnaire have been received and can be viewed at the commission’s Web site at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/global/environment/waste_nr.htm#nv.

BIR is also using its Web site to keep exporters informed of survey responses. "As each non-OECD decision country replies in the months running up to July 2007, that new reply may be compared with the current situation (found at BIR members’ Web page bir.org/private/ControlsFinder/index.asp)."

The BIR states: "the recyclables listed in the new questionnaire are from the UN-EP Basel Convention Annex IX list b and can be correlated in most part with the currently applicable Annex II ‘Green list’ entries as devised by the OECD."

A scrap import registration process being overseen by India’s Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has been delayed because of a large influx of applications.

The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, has been reviewing the procedure since "the various issues related to the DGFT registration were thoroughly discussed during its Brussels Convention in October 2006," according to the trade group.

At that time, BIR "clearly expressed its members’ concerns," according to BIR. "Many applicants were still waiting for some answers from the Indian authorities who admitted that they couldn’t cope with the extremely high number of applications before the deadline," according to a BIR news release.

The BIR, partially crediting its "continuous negotiations with the Indian authorities," has announced that a new DGFT notice dated April 16, 2007, has extended the existing import policy for scrap materials until Sept. 30, 2007.

The new system of importing administered by the DGFT and involving registered companies will come into effect Oct. 1, 2007.