Govt extends ban on pulses export till further orders

New Delhi, Apr 1. The government has today extended the ban on export of pulses till further orders, but allowed outbound shipments of kabuli chana, organic pulses and lentils with some riders. "Prohibition on export of pulses has been extended till further orders. But, there are two exceptions to this. One is export of Kabuli Chana. "Second is export of organic pulses and lentils; but with a ceiling of 10,000 million tonnes per annum and subject to certain conditions," Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification. Export of pulses was initially prohibited for a period of six months in 2006 which was extended from time-to-time. The last extension was up to yesterday. Now, the prohibition is being extended till further orders. Although India is the largest producer of pulses, it has to import about 3 million tonnes (MT) of pulses to meet the domestic demand. As per the government estimate, the country is expected to produce 19.8 MT of pulses this year, which includes 9.8 MT of chana crop, while trade figures says only 6.5 MT of chana crop this year. Official figures show that India imported around 1.4 MT of pulses between April to September 2013. The other conditions for export of organic pulses and lentils include that it should be duly certified by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). "Export contracts should be registered with APEDA, New Delhi prior to shipment; Exports shall be allowed only from Customs EDI (electronic data interchange) Ports," it added.