India - Prohibition of import of solid plastic waste

We would like to reiterate that the Government of India (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) has prohibited the import of solid plastic waste into India. This was notified via a circular to the trade on March 7, 2019 and to be implemented with immediate effect. As per the information provided, complete prohibition has been imposed on import of solid plastic waste into the country including units in Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s) as well as to the Export Oriented Units (EOU’s).

However, in view of ongoing industrial activities in such units and to ensure smooth compliance of the norms, a window of six months i.e. up until August 31, 2019 may be provided to the units of SEZ and EOU’s. During this period, such units may be allowed to import plastic scrap subject to clearance from local trade authorities.

July 10, 2019 will be the cut-off for acceptance of these type of shipments i.e. containers should be gated in full by July 10, 2019 and would need to be accompanied by a Letter of Indemnity (LOI) in favor Hapag-Lloyd issued by the exporter. No further bookings can be accepted after this date.

Import clearance and other formalities such as validity of documents and licenses required remain the liability of Importers and we as a shipping line will not be able to verify the authenticity or validity of such documents.