Pak authorities must be vigilant once China bans import of hazardous scrap

LAHORE: As environmental concerns become a higher priority for Beijing, China plans to ban the import of certain hazardous scrap materials starting December 2017, following which the trade dynamics are expected to change significantly for Pakistan, traders said while talking to The News on Thursday.

The high ups of trade and environment departments need to pull their socks in order to fully gear up to meet this huge challenge, sources said.

Chinese government has notified the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that it would forbid the import of a total of 24 kinds of solid wastes by the end of 2017. The list includes a range of textiles, plastics, as well as waste matter left after smelting in the iron and steel industries. The decision has been taken to comply with the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, and China’s Environmental Pollution Prevention and Control Law for Solid Waste, etc.

Laying out the reasoning for the measures, the Chinese government said it had found large amounts of “dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes” mixed with imports that could be used as raw materials.

This development was being reviewed cautiously in Pakistan as the country has already been at the receiving end due to the import of ‘potentially’ hazardous plastic waste. Traders fear that such import consignments could increase substantially, following China’s exit from plastic scrap trade.

Sources were of the view that the major responsibility started with Pakistan Custom Authorities, who should strictly examine various types of consignment and get them tested through the inspection agencies listed in the Appendix-H of the import policy.

On the other hand, the environmental aspect was also very important to control the import of hazardous materials in Pakistan.

Environmental protection agencies (EPAs) have been assigned with the responsibility to give environmental approval to the manufacturers/recyclers to ensure that all recyclers were in accordance with the EPA Act and complied in equipment requirements for saving the environment.

The provincial EPAs are also authorised to give environmental approval, indicating the annual recycling capacities of the recycler, sources claimed. Regulatory authorities should ensure strict enforcement of policy to avoid import of hazardous PVC scrap material, which could be used in different daily use products.

These 24 contaminants reportedly represented a threat to China's environmental interests and the health of the people. Accordingly, the country was acting to “urgently adjust the imported solid wastes list” and to forbid the import of solid wastes that, in China's view, were “highly polluted”. Pakistan would have to be vigilant of the scrap materials being imported, assuming China’s planned ban goes ahead.