The Hindu Business Line : Areca import c.i.f. value fixed at Rs 35/kg

Mangalore, June 6 The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a notification permitting import of the betel nut (commonly known as arecanut) with c.i.f. (cost, insurance and freight) value at Rs 35 a kg and above.

This move is likely to help the domestic arecanut sector, as it may make import of the commodity unviable for the importer.

In a notification dated June 4, the DGFT said that whole, split, ground and other forms of betel nuts are allowed for import with policy condition that “Import permitted freely provided the c.i.f value is Rs 35 per kg and above”.

When contacted, Mr S.R. Rangamurthy, President of Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) Ltd, told Business Line that this move of DGFT is welcome. With this, there will be no scope for undervaluing the commodity while importing it to the country. The importer has to pay more than 100 per cent of import duty on the c.i.f. value with other overhead costs. Then the total cost of the imported commodity will be in the range of Rs 80 to Rs 85 a kg. With this, the importer cannot sell it at a cheaper price in the domestic market, he said.

“Though our demand is to fix this c.i.f value above Rs 50 a kg, this move is welcome. However, this should be implemented strictly,” he said.

On Friday, old stocks of white arecanut quoted Rs 94 a kg and new stocks Rs 63-Rs77 a kg in the Mangalore market.

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