Ban on scrap metal trade coming in July

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin on Friday said the ban on scrap metal exportation will be reintroduced by the end of July, and he expects the Scrap Metal Bill to be tabled in the National Assembly before August.
The minister made this announcement even as dealers patiently anticipate this piece of legislation, which would govern the sector, being enacted by year end.
“We are currently in a period of resumption; and that comes to an end, I believe, by the end of this month,” the minister noted.
The minister added that he hopes the bill is introduced before the National Assembly goes into recess in August, since, if that does not happen, it would mean that the bill would have to be tabled during the last quarter of the year.
“There is draft legislation that is going to set up a new regime under which the scrap metal trade will be regulated. It (the legislation) is with the Attorney General’s Chambers. It has already passed through cabinet, so we are hoping we can get it tabled in the National Assembly before the recess in August. If not, it will have to wait until the last quarter of the year,” Gaskin pointed out.
Gaskin said the Ministry of Business (MoB) is anticipating the new legislation being enacted before the end of the year, and that it would usher in ‘firm and solid’ management to regulate and monitor the scrap metal industry through the development of a managing body.
Government approved a restart of the scrap metal trade during February 2017, after shuttering the industry one year prior. The main reason for this restart was to allow exporters to ship out their existing stock for a limited period of three months, thereby ensuring there was no stockpile of materials.
However, in April 2018, after several months of delays and much criticism, Government was pressured to reopen the scrap metal trade on a limited basis to facilitate the clearing of some of the accumulated scrap metal across the country.

The minister disclosed that a meeting was held with exporters and dealers to introduce them to a new system that the Business Ministry is trying to implement. According to him, it is a software-based system that was specially designed to help the MoB to monitor and regulate the trade once it resumes, thus creating a level playing field for all.
Gaskin said the resumption of the trade would give the MoB opportunity to test the system to ensure that it works, and also to help clear some of the accumulated scrap metal that has been legitimately acquired.
The scrap metal trade was suspended in June 15, 2015 due to a forensic audit of the Scrap Metal Unit (SMU) which monitors the trade.
In 2016, Ram and McRae produced a report on its findings from the probe, revealing a string of irregularities, including the mishandling of packing procedures for scrap, and the expenditure of millions of dollars in the Scrap Metal Unit within the Central Housing and Planning Authority.
Government has thus removed the responsibility of the trade from the Central Housing and Planning Authority to the Business Ministry.