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The Centre is working on a mechanism to carry out quality certification for wheat flour (atta) exports to assist the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on wheat approve consignments per the amended export policy.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade and the Food Ministry are planning to rope in quality inspection agencies like the Export Inspection Council (EIC) to carry out the testing, a source told BusinessLine.
“There will have to be a process to carry out quality checking of wheat flour. The DGFT and the Food Ministry are trying to do this quickly and work out how quality certification would be given. Export certification bodies, like the EIC or a similar agency, is likely to be involved,” the source said.
The DGFT, on July 6, came up with a notification amending the export policy on wheat flour (atta), mandating its export subject to the recommendation of the IMC on wheat from July 12.
“Since the IMC clearance has to happen from July 12, the system for quality check should be in place by then. Unlike when wheat exports were banned in May this year, the government decided to give some lead time to exporters this time. Hopefully, there won’t be complaints this time of consignments being loaded in ships or registered for exports by the Customs getting stuck,” the source said.
The source explained that the quality checking process is not likely to be complicated. “Agencies like EIC, which already do quality testing for foodgrains like rice, have a sample collection process. The chosen agency can then send its lab testing report to the IMC based on which it will give its export recommendation,” the source said.
The export of wheat flour remains free as the IMC recommendation is to maintain its quality, according to the DGFT notification. This means unlike wheat export, which has been banned since May 13, , the export of wheat flour will continue subject to permission from the IMC.
Indirectly capping the quantity
Industry sources, however, say that the new requirement for IMC recommendation for wheat flour exports could also be an indirect way of controlling export quantities, which was not actually required as exported quantities are low.
According to Commerce Ministry data, India exported 95,094 tonnes of wheat flour worth ₹314 crore in April, while a record 5.66 lakh tonnes worth ₹1,842 crore in the entire 2021-22 fiscal (average 50,000 tonnes a month) was shipped. In 2020-21, 2.78 lakh tonnes of wheat flour were shipped out, while in 2019-20 the volume was 1.99 lakh tonnes.
Industry sources said that about 82,000 tonnes of atta got exported out of 5.66 lt last year and the remaining were maida,sooji and other items. There is hardly any demand for atta outside South Asia and only the Indian diaspora consume atta, mostly buying those popular brands already available in the domestic market, an industry expert said.
“The concern that wheat could be converted to atta and get exported in bulk is baseless as its consumption is limited abroad. Rather, the government should have restricted maida where such a possibility exists because that is consumed in most countries,” said the expert.
On the quality aspect mentioned in the notification, he said that there has not been any concern on quality and no rejection of any consignment from anywhere, so far. Any exportable food item has to conform to the standards of the importing nation and Indian wheat products meet those requirements, he added.
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