Govt prohibits exports of broken rice

The Central Government seems to be worried about rice prices. That is why it has prohibited the exports of broken rice. According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Commerce on 8 September 2022, the prohibition has come into effect from today September 9. Another notification issued by the Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finance yesterday had imposed a customs duty of 20 per cent on exports of non-Basmati rice.

However, Basmati and parboiled rice exports have been kept duty-free. Neither is there any prohibition on their exports. But broken parboiled rice may come under the prohibition category.

According to the notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the export policy of broken rice its export policy has been revised, moving it from the “free” to the “prohibited” category. The decision has come into effect from September 9. The notification gives the details of the consignments of broken rice that will be allowed to be exported during the period of September 9-15. It says that exports will be allowed where the loading of broken rice on the ship has commenced before the notification. Besides, those cases will also be permitted where the shipping bill is filed and vessels have already berthed or arrived and anchored in Indian ports and their rotation number has been allocated before the notification. However, the approval of loading in such vessels will be issued only after obtaining complete details from the concerned port authorities. Those broken-rice consignments will also be allowed which have been handed over to the Customs before the notification and registered in their system.

Broken rice is exported mostly to China and Indonesia, where it is used for feed, but in Africa, it is consumed as food.

The country exported about 21.2 million tonnes of rice in the last financial year, which amounted to 40 per cent of the global rice exports.

The paddy acreage is lagging behind in about a dozen rice-producing states in the country this year due to less rainfall and the paddy crop has also been adversely affected in these states for the same reason. That is why the government is making decisions like prohibiting exports and imposing a customs duty in order to curb the domestic prices of rice and maintain its availability. Amidst all this, however, the Ministry of Agriculture had released rice production figures for the last financial year. Also, a target of a record foodgrain production of 328 million tonnes has been set for the agricultural production season 2022-23. But it appears from these export-related decisions that the ministries of Commerce and Food are unable to trust these figures fully.