By Amena Bakr
DUBAI (Reuters) - Indian scrap importers will hold talks with the government this week to seek an easing of restrictions imposed in April over concerns about radioactive materials, industry executives said on Monday.
More than 25,000 tonnes of scrap metal are currently being held at Indian ports after the Ministry of Environment and Forests classified scrap metal as "hazardous waste," Jayesh Botadra, a trader from Steel's & Scrap based in Mumbai, told Reuters on the sidelines of a recycling conference in Dubai.
"After this notification was given from the ministry, both the importer and the exporter have to fill in form nine to indicate what type of metals are being imported which is very difficult to say about scrap because the metals are mixed," said Botadra.
The form states that custom authorities must collect three samples from each container of scrap for analysis and can retain the report for up to two years.
Earlier this year India had an incident in which high levels of radioactive metal were found in stainless steel elevator buttons which were exported to Germany.
In March the Director General of Foreign Trade introduced a mandatory pre-shipment inspection for all scrap imported into India, which was earlier required only for non-shredded metal.
"This was introduced to prevent radioactive-contaminated scrap metal from entering India, but form nine is really the problem," said Botadra.
"Form nine is only applicable to scrap metal imports made after 29 April and therefore we are being very cautions on any imports we make right now because they will be stuck at the port," said Botadra whose company imported more than 500,000 tonnes of scrap metal last year.
This week representatives of the Indian scrap metal industry and the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), a global federation of industries involved in recovery and recycling of metals, will meet with the government to discuss a possible cancellation of form nine.
"If form nine is not removed, this could mean a lot of damage to the scrap metal business in India, we hope that the government will realize the importance of this sector," said Deepak Baldi, managing director of India's Baldi Metals & Alloys.
"We have around 100 tonnes of scrap stuck in the ports and are waiting for the form to be removed so we can place more orders," Baldi added.
Every year India imports around 3 million tonnes of scrap metal, said Ikbal Nathani, BIR's representative in India.
"I believe that the imports this year will be at the same level because I think the government will agree to remove form nine," Nathani told Reuters.
