By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

AS the Division of Customs Service holds a number of container vans loaded with scrap metal for outbound shipment, the House Committee on Commerce and Tourism is seeking to stop the purchase and sale of scrap copper wire in the CNMI for two years.
The House committee chaired by Rep. Martin B. Ada recommended “that House Bill 15-302 be passed.”
The purpose of the bill, the committee said in its report on October 3, “is to place a two-year moratorium on the sale and purchase of after-market copper wire in the commonwealth,”
A 14-foot container van containing scrap metal remains sitting at the port as Custom is scrutinizing every bit of scrap metal following the recovery of undeclared copper wire last month.
Acting Customs Director Gregorio M. Sablan Jr. said in an interview that they have already come up with standard operating procedures in the flow of scrap metal for shipments, which he described to be “a mirror image,” of how it is being done in connection with garments and other shipments that require excise tax.
Sablan, however, said that they are still waiting for the Attorney General’s Office to approve their procedures and the secretary of Finance to give them instructions.
Rep. Ray N.Yumul, Ind.-Saipan in a separate interview said H.B. 15-302 “is to improve the intent of P.L. 15-36 and P.L. 15-55.
P.L. 15-36, or the Recycling Reporting Act, regulates the recycling business in the CNMI while P.L. 15-55 provides 45-day waiting period for recycled materials leaving the islands.
H.B. 15-302, the committee report said, also requires recycling businesses to apply for a business license at the Department of Commerce for an annual fee of $500.
On October 2, customs authorities discovered a large quantity of copper wire embedded in compacted scrap metal for outbound shipment The 20-foot container van belongs to Saipan Triple Star Recycling Inc.
Sablan declined to say more about it as the case is still under investigation.
Yumul said he is very disappointed that while some recyclers are trying to make a clean living out of garbage, others are doing it dirty by buying stolen items.
“And the honest firms are being tainted due to these shady operators,” he said.
The lawmaker also said he is glad that the CNMI government has “a good handle on copper wire theft issues,”
He commended Customs and the Department of Public Safety for doing the best they can to curb these thefts.