Poultry industry demands permission from the government to import maize under OGL
19-Jul-2024 05:15 PM
New Delhi. Due to the ever-increasing use of maize in ethanol production, the domestic market price of maize has jumped to a very high level, due to which the Indian poultry industry is facing great difficulties.
The industry has urged the Central Government to allow duty-free import of maize under the Open General License (OGL).
It is worth noting that about 60 percent of the annual maize production in the country is consumed in the poultry industry.
A section of the poultry industry is also demanding that the government should supply rice at a subsidized price to meet the shortage of maize. In a letter sent to the Union Animal Husbandry Ministry on July 11, the Poultry Federation of India has said that the price of maize has increased by 18 percent on an annual basis, which is much higher than the average growth rate of inflation and the poultry industry cannot pass on the impact of this high price of maize to the users (buyers) of poultry products.
It is noteworthy that the Central Government has recently permitted the import of 5 lakh tonnes of maize at a concessional price of 15 percent under the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) system. Its import is to be done through government agencies.
It is worth noting that an organization of the domestic livestock industry - CL FMA of India had urged the government to allow the import of maize at zero duty under the TRQ system.
Industry critics say that importing maize through government agencies will not only take a long time but the imported goods will also be expensive due to the imposition of 15 percent import duty. Instead, if the import of maize is allowed at zero duty under the Open General License (OGL), then the poultry industry can get some relief.
It is worth noting that import of GM maize is not allowed in India, whereas limited stock of non-GM maize is available globally. Only some African countries like Ukraine and Myanmar as well as Nigeria produce and export stock of non-GM maize.