The concerns about environment and public health are slowly gaining ground in the matter of imports and exports also.
The sanitary (relating to food safety) and phytosanitary (animal and plant health) measures are enforced in the course of international trade by various countries to prevent the spread and introduction of any pests, insects or fungus.
In India, the regulations got stringent with Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008, in place.
Last September, the environment ministry subjected the import of waste paper to actual user condition and licensing from the commerce ministry.
The Foreign Trade Policy, however, maintained that no licence was required to import waste paper. So the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) clarified that the Regional Licensing Authorities (RLA) may issue a licence on the basis of a no objection certificate (NOC) from the environment ministry.
Later, the DGFT asked the Customs to carry out a higher percentage physical examination to ensure that no unwanted material was imported under the garb of waste paper and also not to allow unloading of waste paper consignments shipped after April 25, 2009 without a pre-shipment certificate.
Now, the DGFT has further clarified that only the pre-shipment inspection certificates issued by approved agencies, stating that imported material is free from any hazardous waste, including municipal waste and bio-medical waste, should be accepted.
In January, the DGFT asked the Customs not to release ozone depleting substances (ODS), even under advance authorisation, without an NOC from DGFT, and asked the RLA to endorse a condition on the advance authorisations that entire quantity of ODS will