In letters sent to the Indian Commerce Secretary of Government, the Revenue Secretary of Government and the Safeguards Director General, BIR stresses the importance of preserving free trade with secondary raw materials such as aluminium scrap and points out the important environmental benefits of using scrap vs. producing primary materials in terms of emission, water and energy savings.

BIR also highlights the crucial role of aluminium scrap for the secondary smelters that supply the automobile industry, which represents a major export market for India, and warns against the long-term effect of hampering aluminium scrap imports, namely shortages for domestic Indian recyclers and smelters.

If BIR’s plea should not be taken into consideration by the Indian authorities, the international federation intends to bring the issue to the attention of the World Trade Organisation, via the EU Commission’s DG Trade, which has been informed of BIR’s initiative.

For some weeks, BIR has been closely monitoring regulatory matters in India. Recently, an official delegation composed of an Indian BIR member and the President of BIR’s US-American member association ISRI had arranged a meeting with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Steel. The purpose of the meeting was to clarify the non-hazardous nature of secondary materials such as paper, plastics, copper and iron & steel and to avoid restrictive import regulations, such as pre-shipment inspections and the obligation to fill in an additional tracking form that would endanger business confidentiality.

Acknowledgement

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