Wheat export: Govt announces relaxation for booked consignments

The government has 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.

New Delhi: The Central Government on Tuesday amended its previous order issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce on restricting wheat exports. "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 13.5.2022, such consignments would be allowed to be exported," said the statement.

The Government also allowed a wheat consignment headed for Egypt, which was already under loading at the Kandla port. This followed a request by the Egyptian government to permit the wheat cargo to be loaded at the Kandla port. M/s Mera International India Pvt. Ltd., the company engaged in exporting wheat to Egypt, had also given a representation for completion of loading of 61,500 MTs of wheat of which 44,340 MTs had already been loaded and only 17,160 MTs was left to be loaded. The Government decided to permit the full consignment of 61,500 MTs and allowed it to sail from Kandla to Egypt.

The Union 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 are adversely affected by the sudden changes in the global market for wheat and are unable to access adequate wheat supplies.

According to this order, this restriction would not apply in cases where prior commitments have been made by private trade through a Letter of Credit as well as in situations where permission is granted by the Government of India to other countries to meet their food security needs and on the requests of their governments.

The order as per the Government statement was issued to ensure India’s food security and check inflation, help other countries facing food deficit, and maintain India’s reliability as a supplier. The order is also aimed to provide a clear direction to the wheat market to prevent hoarding of wheat supplies.