Millennium Post

India to allow wheat export shipments awaiting customs nod

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NEW DELHI: Relaxing norms, the government on Tuesday said it has decided to allow shipments of wheat consignmen­ts that were registered with the customs authority before the wheat export ban came into force on May 13.

On May 13, the Directorat­e General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notificati­on banning exports of wheat with immediate effect to control price rise.

“It has been decided that wherever wheat consignmen­ts have been handed over to Customs for examinatio­n and have been registered into their systems on or prior to May 13, such consignmen­ts would be allowed to be exported,” the Commerce ministry said in a statement.

The government has also allowed a wheat consignmen­t headed for Egypt, which was already under loading at the Kandla port, it said.

The move follows a request by the Egyptian government to permit the wheat cargo that was being loaded at the Kandla port.

Mera Internatio­nal India Pvt Ltd, the company engaged in the export of the wheat to Egypt, had also given a representa­tion for completion of loading of 61,500 MT of wheat of which 44,340 MT had already been loaded and only 17,160 MT was left to be loaded, it added. The government decided to permit the full consignmen­t of 61,500 MT and allowed it to sail from Kandla to Egypt, the ministry said.

The move also comes against the backdrop of reports that thousands of trucks carrying wheat were in the queue outside some ports due to the sudden announceme­nt of the wheat export ban.

The government had earlier restricted wheat exports to manage the overall food security situation in India and to support the needs of neighbouri­ng and vulnerable countries that have been adversely affected by the sudden changes in the global market for wheat and are unable to access adequate wheat supplies.

As per the order issued on May 13, the restrictio­ns would not apply in cases where prior commitment­s have been made by private traders through Letter of Credit as well as in situations where permission is granted by the government to other countries to meet their food security needs and on the requests of their government­s.

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