A ban on the import of mixed paper and mixed plastics looks set to be imposed by the Vietnamese Government.
Following instructions from the Prime Minister of Vietnam, a meeting was held last week to discuss reducing the currently permitted list of 36 waste commodity codes allowed for import to an expected 24.
Vietnam’s Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha chaired the meeting of six ministries with the intention of reviewing the list of 36 permitted materials.
At the meeting, it was agreed to remove materials that create a high risk of environmental pollution. In particular, it was referenced that other countries in the region were banning these materials, which is most likely to be a reference to China but potentially also Thailand and Malaysia.
It was also decided that materials would be banned if there wasn’t a history of those products being imported into Vietnam, as well as limiting materials where there was already availability from domestic sources in the country.
Although a full list of materials to be removed from the list was not provided following the meeting, it was made clear that ‘unidentified paper scrap’ and ‘non-categorical plastics’ “may be expected to be restricted and removed”.
This would appear to suggest that commodity code 470790, which is typically known as mixed paper would be banned. This is also banned by China.
It would also appear that commodity code 391590, which refers to ‘other plastics’ of no clear definition would also be prevented from import.
Industry sources exporting to Vietnam have told REB Market Intelligence that this is their understanding that mixed paper and mixed plastics will be banned for export to the country.
However, until the full list of 24 permitted materials is published, this cannot be confirmed.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will now work with industries and trade associations to develop long-term guidelines and policies on waste imports, to ensure a supply of raw materials is provided to manufacturers in Vietnam.
The current full list of the 36 commodities allowed into Vietnam:
LIST OF SCRAPS ALLOWED FOR IMPORT AS MANUFACTURING MATERIALS
(According to Decision 73/2014/QD-TTg dated 19/12/2014 by the Prime Minister)
| No. | Scraps | HS code | ||
| 1 | Plaster | 2520 | 10 | 00 |
| 2 | Small particle slag (sand slag) from iron or steel metallurgy industry. | 2618 | 00 | 00 |
| 3 | Mixed chemical elements used in electronics in plate, thin layer or similar types. | 3818 | 00 | 00 |
| 4 | Scraps and pieces of plastics from polymer ethylene (PE): porous type, non-hard. | 3915 | 10 | 10 |
| 5 | Scraps and pieces of plastics from polymer ethylene (PE): Other type. | 3915 | 10 | 90 |
| 6 | Scraps and pieces of plastics from polymer styrene (PS): porous type, non-hard. | 3915 | 20 | 10 |
| 7 | Scraps and pieces of plastics from polymer styrene (PS): Other type. | 3915 | 20 | 90 |
| 8 | Scraps and pieces of plastics from polymer vinyl chloride (PVC): porous type, non-hard. | 3915 | 30 | 10 |
| 9 | Scraps and pieces of plastics from polymer vinyl chloride (PVC): Other type. | 3915 | 30 | 90 |
| 10 | Scraps and pieces of plastics from other types. | 3915 | 90 | 00 |
| 11 | Discarded paper or cardboard (scrap and pieces): kraft paper or kraft cardboard or undyed cardboard. | 4707 | 10 | 00 |
| 12 | Discarded paper or cardboard (scrap and pieces): other paper or cardboard made mostly from paper pulp collected from the chemical process that are white dye, undyed fully. | 4707 | 20 | 00 |
| 13 | Discarded paper or cardboard (scrap and pieces): other paper or cardboard made mostly from paper pulp collected from the mechanical process (e.g, paper for newspaper, magazine or similar publications). | 4707 | 30 | 00 |
| 14 | Discarded paper or cardboard (scrap and pieces): other type, including unclassified scraps and pieces. | 4707 | 90 | 00 |
| 15 | Silk scrap (including cocoon unsuitable for silk reeling, scrap fiber and recycled fiber). | 5003 | 00 | 00 |
| 16 | Glass piece and glass scrap and other pieces; glass in block. | 7001 | 00 | 00 |
| 17 | Scrap and pieces of cast iron. | 7204 | 10 | 00 |
| 18 | Scrap and pieces of alloy steel: stainless steel. | 7204 | 21 | 00 |
| 19 | Scrap and pieces of alloy steel: other type (different from stainless steel). | 7204 | 29 | 00 |
| 20 | Scrap and pieces of iron or tin coated steel. | 7204 | 30 | 00 |
| 21 | Scrap and pieces of iron or steel: hobbed, planed, chop, scale and bavia iron shavings, not press into blocks or in package, bar, cluster. | 7204 | 41 | 00 |
| 22 | Scraps and other pieces of iron or steel: other type. | 7204 | 49 | 00 |
| 23 | Re-melt foundry pig (iron, steel, cast iron) scrap. | 7204 | 50 | 00 |
| 24 | Copper scrap and pieces | 7404 | 00 | 00 |
| 25 | Nickel scrap and pieces. | 7503 | 00 | 00 |
| 26 | Aluminum scrap and pieces. | 7602 | 00 | 00 |
| 27 | Zinc scrap and pieces. | 7902 | 00 | 00 |
| 28 | Tin scrap and pieces. | 8002 | 00 | 00 |
| 29 | Wolfram scrap and pieces. | 8101 | 97 | 00 |
| 30 | Molybdenum scrap and pieces. | 8102 | 97 | 00 |
| 31 | Magnesium scrap and pieces. | 8104 | 20 | 00 |
| 32 | Titanium scrap and pieces. | 8108 | 30 | 00 |
| 33 | Zirconium scrap and pieces. | 8109 | 30 | 00 |
| 34 | Antimony scrap and pieces. | 8110 | 20 | 00 |
| 35 | Manganese scrap and pieces. | 8111 | 00 | 00 |
| 36 | Chromium scrap and pieces. | 8112 | 22 | 00 |
