The Hindu Business Line : First shipment of arecanut lands after canalisation

Mangalore March 15 Barely a month after the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification allowing arecanut to be imported only through the New Mangalore port, the first consignment of four containers of arecanut has landed in Mangalore.

Port sources told Business Line that four containers carrying 71 tonnes have landed in the port. The commodity came to Mangalore from Colombo in Sri Lanka. One of the Nagpur-based trading houses has imported this commodity.

However, the rate at which arecanut is imported is not known, as the importer is yet to file the "bill of entry" for the commodity. When contacted, Custom officials said unless the `bill of entry' is filed, they would not be in a position to tell about the rate.

UNDER INVOICING

On December 19 last, a delegation of cooperatives from arecanut sector had met the Union Agriculture and Commerce Ministers to impose a ban on arecanut import.

The delegation had informed the Ministers that arecanut was being imported by under-invoicing the shipments. In such a situation there was a need for tariff rate (floor rate) for imported arecanut. While the production cost of the commodity in the country is around Rs 60 a kg, some people import white arecanut at Rs 10-11 a kg and pay 100 per cent duty on it.

Following the meeting, the Ministers had assured the delegation that all steps would be taken to control arecanut import. As a result of this, the DGFT issued a notification on February 20 allowing only the New Mangalore port to import arecanut. Till then, arecanut was imported through other ports in the country.

The Union Government is yet to decide on other demands of the cooperatives such as the appointment of a nodal agency to check the quality of the commodity and to certify it.

The cooperatives also want the Government to fix tariff price for the imported arecanut.

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