COMMODITY
Govt decides to allow exporting wheat consignments registered with customs authority prior to ban order
May-18-2022

The government has relaxed norms and has decided to allow shipments of the wheat consignments that were registered with the customs authority before the wheat export ban came into force on May 13. The ban on wheat export has left at least 4,000 trucks carrying the food grain stranded outside Deendayal Port at Kandla in Gujarat for want of permission from authorities to load them into vessels. The commerce ministry said the government has announced some relaxation to its order dated May 13 issued by DGFT on restricting wheat exports. On May 13, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification banning exports of wheat with immediate effect to control price rise.

The ministry said ‘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 government has also allowed a wheat consignment headed for Egypt, which was already under loading at the Kandla port. The relaxation came following a request by the Egyptian government seeking India’s permission for the wheat cargo that was being loaded at the Kandla port.

Mera International India, the company engaged in 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. The government decided to permit the full consignment of 61,500 MT and allowed it to sail from Kandla to Egypt. 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 became unable to access adequate wheat supplies.

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