The Centre has allowed to keep imported commodities outside the purview of the stock limits imposed for checking the hoarding of commodities such as rice, wheat, pulses and edible oils.
According to a notification presented before the Parliament last week, the Consumers Affairs Ministry said that imported commodities would not be covered by the Removal of (Licensing Requirements, Stock Limits and Movement Restrictions) on Specified Foodstuffs Order.
“If a wholesaler or retailer or dealer is able to demonstrate that part of his or her stocks are sourced from imports, then these would be excluded for the purpose of calculation of stock limits,” the notification said.
In order to combat high inflation that reached double digits last year, the Centre had introduced stock limit order in many commodities such as rice, wheat, pulses, edible oils and oilseeds by empowering states to prescribe how much quantity a trader can stock at any point of time.
However, traders said that it is difficult to prove if the product is imported. The order is confusing, they rued.
“Some soyabean oil manufacturers are producing the cooking oil both by using domestically produced oilseeds and through imports. How can we know the origin of a branded oil that we are selling?,” a trader asked.
The trader said that RBD palmolein, a cooking oil sourced from Indonesia and Malaysia, is being blended in many vegetable oils. “What will happen to us if we keep that oil in excess of the stock limit,” he asked.
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Meanwhile, taking advantage of the relaxation, edible oil traders are stocking the imported cooking oils with imports rising by over 75 per cent in recent times.
According to Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors Association (SEA), India, the second largest vegetable oil buyer in the world, made a record import of over 9 lakh tonnes in January taking advantage of a sharp drop in international prices.
Vegetable oils (both edible and non-edible) import rose by 78 per cent to 9,12,342 tonnes in January 2009 from 5,13,235 tonnes a year-ago, it said.
Interestingly, import of edible oil rose by 87 per cent to 8,56,000 tonnes, while non-edible oil shipments maintained last year’s level at 55,652 tonnes, it said.
Non-edible oils are used mainly for making soaps.
Another significant development seen in January was that India imported 1,914 tonnes of rapeseed (equivalent of mustard) oil after five years.