Cabinet has granted approval for the limited restart of the Scrap Metal Trade. At the Post Cabinet media briefing today, Minister of State Joseph Harmon, said that in September 2016, Cabinet accepted the proposal from the Ministry of Business to restart the scrap metal trade on the basis of a renewed menu of measures that were to be put in place.
The Minister pointed out that the process of putting together new guidelines and regulations by the Ministry has being on-going and the Ministry of Business now feels that it is in a position to authorize the limited restart of the Scrap Metal Trade.
Meanwhile, inspections have revealed that there is large buildup of scrap metal across Region Four as a result of the trade being closed for the past 19 months.
Minister Harmon said that Cabinet has therefore approved the proposal from the Minister of Business to allow the export of the existing stock over a limited period of time.
The Ministry of Business, in anticipation of the resumption of the scrap metal trade, met with key stakeholders to discuss proposed changes to the operation of the industry. The Ministry sought to streamline mechanisms with respect to trade and licensing.
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. (GINA)
