With its announcement No. 48 of 2018, the Chinese General Administration of Customs provided the Implementation Rules on the Supervision and Administration of Pre-shipping Inspection of Imported Solid Waste Used as Raw Materials, which took effect on June 1, 2018. The announcement is pertinent to third part pre-shipment inspection agencies, said BIR in a statement. The General Administration of Customs (“GAC”), China will be responsible for the supervision and administration of pre-shipping inspection agencies in the context of their services of inspection, loading under supervision and stamping with sealing marks, and the issuance of the pre-shipping inspection certificate for exports of waste as raw materials to China, as per the statement. Exporters of scrap materials to China may expect news on the first third-party pre-shipment inspection agencies to have been successful in applying to the GAC, and so may provide their services in late July at the earliest. Preshipment inspection agencies wishing further information may contact BIR Trade & Environment Director Ross Bartley rbartley@bir.org.