A high official in the shipping ministry said the policy would be placed before the advisory council soon for the final go-ahead.

The shipping ministry will hold an inter-ministerial meeting today (Thursday) where representatives of different ministries and stakeholders will place their recommendations before the draft is finalised.

Sources said the policy would suggest the government to form a permanent advisory committee comprising government representatives, industry people and representatives of other institutions concerned to provide necessary suggestions to the government.

Salaries of the committee members and expenditure of the committee is to be met by donations from scrap-ship importers and ship breakers, the sources added.

Ships imported for scrapping cannot be used for other purposes and an importer has to acquire necessary approval from the government before importing a ship.

To keep the environment clean, the draft policy suggested all ships imported for scrapping have to be free from any kinds of explosives, gases and poisonous materials. Ships may not have fuel, lubricants, refrigerators, batteries, asbestos and PVC pipes in them either.

It also suggested restricting the sale of a number of interior-decoration objects, which are hazardous to the environment, to the local market. There would also be restrictions on building scrap yards near sensitive environments like the Sundarbans.

Sources said the draft suggested making some safety equipment mandatory for workers' protection like fire extinguishers, emergency recovery equipments, first aid boxes, protective masks, goggles, overalls, safety harnesses and face shields. It also suggested making scrapping-plans for every ship before the workers start tearing it down.

The government as part of a reforms initiative decided to implement a shipbreaking policy as the industry never had a policy since it started in Bangladesh in the early 70's. Nearly 725 shipbreaking related accidents occurred and 2,117 workers lost their lives since then.

The shipping ministry official hoped accidents and loss of lives would decline in number dramatically if the policy was implemented and the scrap yards follow the rules. The official said the draft policy was formulated following the Environment Protection Rules 1997.

He said the implementation of the policy is urgently needed as different scrap yards are trying to import ships hazardous to the environment.

In February 2006, there were initiatives to bring in 1,200 tonne asbestos-carrying ship SS Norway and in December that year there were efforts to bring in MT Apsheron, which the Green Peace listed as a harmful ship.

The government on an average earns Tk 600-700 crore revenue a year from the sector. The industry fulfills 80 percent local demand for iron and creates employment of around 5 lakh people across the country.