On 25 September 2026 Business Standard reported that India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had withdrawn recognition of 15 pre-shipment inspection agencies (PSIAs). The regulator told the newspaper that a review of issued pre-shipment inspection certificates (PSICs) found agencies that had not followed the prescribed inspection and certification procedure, including a large number of certificates issued from a single instrument across countries without due diligence. DGFT said it had recognised additional agencies so that inspection capacity remained available.
The action sits on cargoes already moving to Indian ports. It is a separate file from the European Commission's 18 September draft that would leave India off the metal-waste column from 21 May 2027, which is covered in the MRAI intervention briefing and the draft waste-import list.
What a PSIC is and why a European yard sees it
A PSIA is a DGFT-approved inspection body. It inspects metallic waste and scrap at the port of loading and issues a PSIC. Business Standard recorded the check as confirming that the cargo does not contain radioactive material, arms, ammunition or explosives. The Indian importer presents that certificate to Customs at clearance. SteelOrbis, on 22 September, described the same function as a visual check and test against Indian safety standards for unauthorised hazardous elements, explosives and illegal radioactive materials.
MRAI told Business Standard that India imports about 13 million tonnes of metal scrap a year and that around 2,500 scrap containers a day are handled by PSIAs worldwide. SteelOrbis recorded MRAI's estimate that overseas inspection and documentation costs about 200 dollars per container, and that moving verification to Indian ports could save about 500,000 dollars a day in foreign-exchange outgo. Those figures are association estimates of inspection cost, not scrap values.
For a European yard or trader, an Indian mill or recycler cannot clear a container if the certificate is missing, late, or was issued by an agency that later lost recognition. The melt specification on HMS 1&2 80/20 or shredded does not replace that safety file. The same certificate requirement applies to non-ferrous lots sold as aluminium scrap or copper scrap when the importer is using the PSIA route.
The two-day upload window and cargo already at sea
On 25 August 2026 DGFT required PSIAs to generate and issue the PSIC on the day of inspection. After trade feedback, Trade Notice 28/2026-27 of 16 September substituted a two-day window from the date of inspection. The notice said the system will permit generation and issuance only inside that window, and that the certificate must be uploaded from the same country where the inspection was carried out. A one-time seven-day relaxation was given so recognised agencies could clear backlog certificates for inspections conducted before 25 August.
Business Standard reported that the tighter clock has already produced stuck cargo. One listed recycler said eight lots at Mundra were released only after penalties and a local re-inspection, because certificates from subsequently delisted agencies were not accepted. The same company said it paid penalties on seven further Mundra cargoes where the agency had inspected the lot but failed to upload the certificate within two days. Once the cargo has left the load port, the upload window can close while the container is still at sea.
DGFT told the newspaper that easing the timeline to two days, together with the backlog window, had substantially addressed transitional concerns. The notice text itself does not reopen a closed two-day window for a cargo already under way.
Safe-country yard certificates for EU and UK origin
Business Standard recorded that scrap originating from designated safe countries — the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia — or from regions such as the European Union can use a supplier or scrap-yard certificate in place of a PSIA inspection, subject to specified conditions. DGFT said it is working to expand that safe-country and safe-region list, and that reliance on the PSIC framework would ease as the network grows. Until then, the regulator said pre-shipment inspection remains an essential source-side safeguard. It is consulting India's Department of Revenue on the availability and operation of radiation scanners at Indian ports.
MRAI has asked for the PSIC and PSIA mechanism to be abolished and replaced with destination-side scanning. Business Standard recorded MRAI's view that 15 of India's 18 major seaports already have modern radiation scanners. SteelOrbis, citing a government official on 22 September, said New Delhi is considering a relaxation of the mandatory PSIC regime. That discussion has not waived inspection on a cargo loading this week.
A yard in the EU or the UK should not assume every lot automatically travels on a yard letter. Mixed origin, a transshipment that breaks the safe-country conditions, or a buyer who still books a PSIA all put the file back onto a recognised agency. OECD and non-OECD shipment checks still decide whether the lot moves as waste. Who buys European scrap still includes Indian electric-arc and remelt plants among the South Asian offtake.
Who it affects this week
European yards and exporters that load for Indian ports need to know which route the importer is using before the truck leaves the yard. If the file is a PSIA inspection, confirm that the agency is still on DGFT's recognised list and that the certificate will be generated and uploaded within two days, from the country of inspection. If the file is a safe-country yard certificate, keep the letter with the packing list.
Traders booking EU or UK containers into Mundra, Nhava Sheva or other Indian ports should treat a delisted agency's certificate as a clearance risk even if the physical inspection already happened. Re-inspection at destination and penalties fall on the importer first. They come back as delayed payment, claims or rejected cargo.
Indian mills and processors remain the offtake. Their problem this week is a safety certificate, not the 2027 waste-list column. A processor that can document origin, packing and the inspection route is easier to book than a mixed container offered only as European scrap.
How to name the lot
Name the grade the buyer can melt — HMS 1&2 80/20, shredded, or the non-ferrous description the melt already uses — the tonnes, packing, city or load port, and whether the sale is ex-works, FOB or CFR an Indian port. If the intended recovery is in India, name the discharge port. State whether the material is waste or claimed as end-of-waste. If a PSIA has inspected the lot, name the agency and the certificate date. If the lot is offered on a safe-country yard certificate, say so and name the origin country.
Do not invent a radiation result or a certificate number you do not have. Do not describe a mixed-origin lot as EU scrap in order to skip inspection. For a 2027 EU waste programme, treat India as a destination the 18 September draft would not authorise for metal waste unless the adopted list changes. How to sell scrap metal still starts with a named grade and a named load point.
Verified companies can place the parcel on live lots or post a wanted enquiry. Request access if you sell EU or UK scrap into India or buy for an Indian melt.