India Clarifies Exceptions On Non-Basmati Rice Export Ban

By Janani Janarthanan

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has clarified on Friday that already approved shipments of non-basmati white rice would be exempted.
It includes shipments that have been approved for transit and those that have arrived on Indian shores prior to the notice of the export curbs.
The period of export will be till Aug. 31 in such cases, according to a notification. India imposed an export curb on non-basmati white rice—including semi-milled, wholly-milled, polished and glazed varieties—on July 20. The move comes on the back of representations to the DGFT from stakeholders and customs authorities on whether exporters must qualify all three of the above criteria or just one.
The cases of exception require any one of the following:

·       Where loading of non-basmati rice on the ship has commenced prior to the notification.

·       Where the shipping bill is filed and vessels have already berthed or arrived and anchored in Indian ports pre-dated to the notification and their rotation number had been allocated prior to the notification. The approval for such vessels will be subject to the confirmation by port authorities.

·       Where the consignment has already been handed over to customs and registered for exportation with verifiable evidence of date and time stamping of these commodities. Such exports will be allowed till Aug. 31.  

The DGFT has clarified that if the exporter satisfies one of the above scenarios, they would be allowed an exception to export. The export ban was announced in July to lower the prices for the consumers in the country, according to a release by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Non-basmati white rice constituted about 25% of total rice exported from the country.

This article has been republished from BQ Prime