Following recent discoveries of radioactive sources in scrap imports, India's director general of foreign trade has issued a new notification that makes a pre-shipment inspection certificate mandatory for all shipments of shredded scrap into the country. The change in procedure has begun with bills of lading starting with March 23, 2009. Prior to that date, shredded scrap did not require a pre-shipment inspection; other grades of scrap, however, did require the pre-shipment inspection certificates.
"Until now, the shredded metal scrap was not required to have any pre-shipment certificate. Today onwards, it has become mandatory," said Rohit Shah, director of the Bombay Metal Exchange.
Mr Shah commented, "Both ferrous and non-ferrous shredded scrap metal will require such a certificate, adding to costs and preparation time for the importers."
Shredded metal scrap was previously exempt from an inspection certificate as it was assumed that scrap metal put through a shredder was free of any explosives or hazardous materials.