Delay in export shipment of rice due to stopping of consignments at various ports
10-Oct-2024 12:24 PM
New Delhi. Although the Central Government had allowed the shipment of non-basmati white rice with a minimum export price (MAP) of $ 490 per tonne last month and also reduced the export duty on sella rice from 20 percent to 10 percent,
despite this, due to stopping of consignments by Customs officials at major ports, export shipment of rice is getting unnecessarily delayed and exporters are suffering financial losses.
According to trade sources, the problem has arisen because there is no export duty on white rice while 10 percent duty is levied on sella rice.
Customs officials want to ensure that sella rice is not exported in the name of white rice. Therefore, rice consignments are being stopped at Container Freight Stations (CFS) and thoroughly checked and this is taking time.
Everything was going on normally till the government did not liberalize the rice export policy because at that time there was no shipment of white rice and 20 percent duty was imposed on sella rice, so there was no need for investigation.
Till the end of September, the custom officials used to stop the consignment of sella rice only because there was a ban on it and now the consignments are being stopped to find out whether sella rice is being exported in the name of white rice or not. During October, the direction of the customs department's investigation changed as compared to September.
The custom officials are getting the category of rice tested. The global market price of white rice is $ 491-495 per tonne and the price of sella rice is above $ 500 per tonne which is based on free on board.
The officials suspect that an attempt may be made to save export duty by shipping sella rice in the name of white rice, so getting the test done is considered necessary.
On the other hand, exporters say that due to the stoppage of consignments, they are facing an additional financial burden of up to 70-80 dollars per tonne.
Many consignments have been kept on hold for the last 10 days. This is increasing the cost and it is becoming difficult to deliver rice consignments to the importing countries on time.