New draft legislation for scrap metal trade completed   

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin will soon present to Cabinet the draft scrap metal trade legislation.
The Minister said consultations on the legislation would commence soon, and thereafter the necessary changes would be made and presented to Cabinet for approval.
Gaskin explained that Cabinet would examine the draft legislation to ensure that it was in keeping with the Government policies, priorities and the various concerns surrounding the scrap metal industry were addressed therein. He said once consultations were completed and the legislation approved, it would then move to Parliament for passage, after which President David Granger would assent to it. Thereafter, the legislation will become law.
In February, Cabinet had granted approval for the limited restart of the scrap metal trade; that three-month period had just concluded and Gaskin said the Ministry had already begun to process some licences.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) report, inspections have revealed that there was a large build-up of scrap metal across Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), which resulted from the trade being closed for the past 19 months. Hence, Cabinet had approved the proposal from the Business Minister to allow the export of the existing stock over a limited period of time.
Additionally, the Business Ministry, in anticipation of the resumption of the scrap metal trade, sought to streamline mechanisms with respect to trade and licensing. The Ministry also met with key stakeholders to discuss proposed changes to the operations of the industry.
The scrap metal trade was suspended on June 15, 2015 as a result of a forensic audit of the Scrap Metal Unit (SMU), which monitors the trade.