Hazardous Waste – Import
The following Public Notice was
issued by the Commissioner of Customs (Import) Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House,
Maharashtra on 19th June 2009
[Ref: Customs Public Notice No. 37
dated 19th June 2009]
F. No.:S/22-GEN-154/09-10
AM (I)
Attention of all importers, CHA, trade
and all others concerned, is invited to the Hazardous Wastes (Management,
Handling and Trans-Boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as
“HWR” for the sake of brevity). These Rules have been enacted by the Ministry
of Environment and Forests, Government of India, in exercise of powers
conferred under Section 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 (29
of 1986) and in supersession of the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling)
Rules, 1989.
2. Chapter
IV of the said Rules, provides in detail the procedure
for import and export of Hazardous Waste. Salient features of HWR are:
(i) All the items
listed in Part A of the Schedule-III are restricted and require Prior
Informed Consent as well as permission from Ministry of Environment &
Forest and DGFT Licence.
(ii) For all Items
listed in Part B of the Schedule III, Prior Informed Consent is not
required. Further, various items listed in the Part B have been categorized
into 4 categories, with the attendant conditions attached to each item, which
are as under:
|
Category |
Requirement |
|
With
two astrics** |
Import
permitted in the country without any license or restriction |
|
With
three astrics*** |
Import
permitted in the country for recycling/reprocessing by units registered with
MOEF/CPCB and having DGFT license. |
|
With
four astrics**** |
Import
permitted in the country by the actual user with MOEF permission and DGFT
license. |
|
With
no astrics |
All
other wastes listed in Schedule-III (Part-B) having no “Star/s” (*…) can only
be imported in to the country with the permission of MOEF. |
3. All provisions of HWR will be strictly
adhered to, notwithstanding the earlier practice followed in this Custom House
or other Custom Houses.
4. In case of non-compliance of any of the
conditions, as per the provisions of Rule 17(2) of the HWR provides
“the importer shall re-export the waste in question at his
cost within a period of ninety days from the date of its arrival into India and
its implementation will be ensured by the concerned State Pollution Control
Board”.
In
case such goods are not cleared within 30 days of unloading, the matter would
be referred to the State Pollution Control Board for necessary action at their
end in terms of the aforesaid provision.
5. The
importer(s) may apply for availing the option to keep the goods in Public
Bonded Warehouse with adequate infrastructure under Section 49 of the Customs
Act’1962, to avoid detention and demurrage charges, till the time it is
re-exported or cleared, as per the provisions of the HWR.