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Welcoming the Government of India’s order allowing bulk exports of edible oils from India, the Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC) termed it a positive step for Indian farmers engaged in oilseeds cultivation.
“There was a long pending demand from Indian exporters of edible oils. This will support Indian farmers engaged in oilseed crops in addition to higher export of premium edible oils such as sesame oil, groundnut oil, etc,” said Sanjiv Sawla, Chairman, IOPEPC .
Sawla mentioned that the move provides a much-needed level playing field to exporters to compete with players from Sudan, Ethiopia, China, Myanmar, Bangladesh etc, where such restrictions on bulk packing don't exist.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification allowing bulk export of edible oils such as Groundnut oil, Sesame seed oil, Soyabean oil and corn oil. Earlier export was allowed in branded consumer pack of 5 kg.
“The 5 kg consumer pack condition has caused increase in cost both for exporters and importers. The additional cost to unpack makes import of oil unviable for importers,” said Sawla.
“Importers prefer packing in bulk as the consumer habits, need for further processing, blending and labelling laws are different in various importing countries, resulting in a need for different packing sizes,” he added.
Highlighting the fact that globally, almost 97 percent of the edible oil trade takes place in bulk, Sawla stated that the edible oil export policy is now well aligned with global packaging norms and is better positioned to cater to global demand.
According to IOPEPC data, India produces 8 lakh tonnes of sesame seed annually, out of which about 3 lakh tonnes is exported in the form of hulled and natural sesame seed.
Domestic availability of Sesame seed is at about 5 lakh tonnes, out of which 1 lakh tonnes is consumed by bakery and other products, while the remaining 4 lakh tonnes goes for crushing, which produces 1.8 lakh tonnes of oil with 45 per cent oil content.
Even as India produces a huge quantity of sesame seed oil, it exports only 7,000 tonnes annually, thereby losing the global market to other sesame seed producing countries.
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