The Hindu Business Line : Pulses importers upset over new shipment rules

FOLLOWING apprehensions that the new set of quarantine procedures, implemented from January 1, could jeopardise the smooth flow of farm imports, the Pulses Importers Association of India (PIA) has taken up the issue strongly with the Government.

In a representation to the Ministry of Agriculture, the association has brought out the practical difficulties in complying with the revised regulations and has sought changes in documentation.

The new set of rules — the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Imports into India) Order, 2003 — introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture, establishes procedures and quarantine requirements for plant, planting materials and various agricultural products when imported into India, both for planting and consumption. It also contains new declarations and conditions for the import of various agricultural commodities.

Explaining its inability to follow the new regulations, the PIA has pointed out that it would be well-nigh impossible for any importer to make an application for import permit 30 days before the arrival of goods because the sailing time for cargo from nearby origins/ports — Dubai, Bandar Abbas, Tanzania, Burma — is hardly 10-15 days.

Similarly, the condition that Indian import-permit number should be mentioned in the original phyto-sanitary certificate from exporter is impractical.

The association has also drawn the attention of the authorities to certain anomalies in the packing condition, need for allowing utilisation of import permit in parts, tolerance limit for presence of foreign matter and so on.

As the notification has taken effect from January 1, traders are wondering about the fate of shipments already made. The notification is silent about afloat cargo and high-sea sales including third-country sales.

With inflow of over 20 lakh tonnes per annum, pulses are a major item of import for the country. Pulses imports have been taking place for over 20 years now in order to bridge the gap between domestic output and demand.

Mr Pravin Dongre, Vice-President, PIA, told Business Line that following a meeting the association representatives had with the Ministry officials recently, there has been a better appreciation of the difficulties the trade would encounter. "I am confident, the Government has seen merit in our representation and would soon amend the notification to ensure uninterrupted imports of essential commodities," Mr Dongre mentioned.

The US Embassy in New Delhi has expressed concern that the new procedure could potentially hurt products of interest to that country, namely citrus fruits, grapes, apple, pear, stone fruits, dry peas, almonds etc. Of particular concern is condition relating to fumigation and phyto-sanitary certificate for the packing material (wooden crates).

A representative of the seed industry association said the provisions of the notification were under examination and that the association would soon respond to the government. The cotton traders association too is said to be studying the new regulation.

For the time being, there has not been any hold-up of consignments in Mumbai port for want of compliance with the notification, according to a city-based clearing and forwarding agent.

An important issue to be considered is whether or not the government of India has kept the World Trade Organisation (WTO) informed of the drastic changes in import regulations. India's trading partners, especially exporters of goods to India, have a right to know about the changes in customs, quarantine and import-related procedure.

At a time when inflation is catching up and the Government is in an election mode, it is unclear what objective is sought to be achieved by evolving a complex set of import regulations, wondered a senior trader.

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