Govt may partially lift ban on rice exportsBS Reporter / New Delhi October 24, 2007The union cabinet is likely to partially lift the ban on export of non-basmati rice, which was announced on October 9. This follows a meeting between Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda yesterday."We agreed to allow export of non-basmati rice varieties, which have a price of above $425 per tonne. We will discuss the issue at the cabinet meeting tomorrow," Nath said on the sidelines of a bilateral meeting with a Dutch delegation.It was also decided to include some premium varieties of rice in the basmati rice category on which the ban is not effective. Hooda explained to Nath and Pawar about the resentment among farmers on the export ban. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy also intimated the two central government ministers over telephone about the representations he has been receiving from rice growers of the state.Significantly, Directorate General of Foreign Trade released a circular, which allows rice exports for which shipping bills were issued before October 9. This would allow rice consignments stuck in ports to be exported."It has been brought to the notice of this office that various customs authorities are not permitting export of rice even in cases where shipping bills have been filed and let export date given much prior to the date of ban," the DGFT circular addressed to the customs officials said.Sources also said that a lot of rice consignments, on which contracts were finalised, have not reached the ports.Meanwhile, with exporters stopping procurement of rice, prices of the crop has been falling since the ban was imposed. "Since October 14, we have boycotted the purchase of superior varieties of paddy since we don
