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In Jamaica , the fact that the industry acts as a source of foreign exchange earnings as well as its significance to a number of persons who might otherwise be unemployed cannot be denied and as a result it is not desirous for the export of the product to be completely banned. However, it is widely accepted that the industry requires more stringent regulation in order to deter the level of criminal activities currently being witnessed as well as to ensure that no further damage is done to the country's infrastructure. As a result, based on consultations among government stakeholders, it was determined that the Government of Jamaica should move quickly to implement regulatory requirements for the sector.

As an interim response to the issue an Order, entitled “The Trade (Prohibition of Export) (Scrap Metal) Order 2007” was gazetted on October 31, 2007 to temporarily prohibit all exports of scrap metal until trade regulations are introduced. The Order recognized shipments already “entered” for export into the Customs Department system up to October 30 th 2007.

Following consultations among the key stakeholders, namely officials from the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce , Jamaica Trade and Invest, Trade Board Ltd., the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the Jamaica Customs Department, National Water Commission, Ministry of Transport and Works, Jamaica Constabulary Force and exporters of scrap metal, policy guidelines for the development of Trade Regulation to govern the Scrap Metals Industry in Jamaica have been developed. These proposed guidelines are outlined in the following sections.

Management of the Trade Regulations

The scrap metal industry will be regulated under the proposed “Trade (Scrap Metal) Regulations, 2007” (See Annex). Under these regulations, to be established under the Trade Act, a licensing regime will be put in place to monitor and regulate the purchase, sale and export of scrap metal.

All licenses will be issued through the Trade Board Ltd., an agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce with responsibility for management of import and export licensing regimes. The Trade Board will therefore have management responsibility for this regime with the coordination of key Government stakeholders including Jamaica Trade and Invest , Jamaica Customs Department. and the Jamaica Constabulary Force.

Key Features of the Trade Regulations

Specifically, the Trade Regulations requires the following activities and actions to be implemented by the key stakeholders:

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