Government relaxes wheat import norms

The Centre has decided to allow wheat imports even if consignments fail to meet the quality or phytosanitary norms specified in import tenders.

An order issued by the agriculture ministry, however, added that the grain had to be milled immediately and not stored in or transported through wheat-growing regions.

The relaxation, however, is valid only till December 31.

"If the plant quarantine officials find that the level of infestation of the import consignments of wheat warrant their milling in order to prevent the establishment of quarantine pests in the country, they would only release the consignments after directing the importers to ensure that the consignments are milled at the earliest and reports of compliance are submitted to the Plant Quarantine Stations concerned and the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage," the ministry's order issued last month said.

The order states that importers of such wheat will not be allowed to store or transport it through major wheat growing regions such as Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, western Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, unless it is milled.

Importers will also have to submit a list of locations where imported wheat would be stored to enable surveillance and control any possible outbreak of exotic pests and diseases.

Agriculture scientists say the relaxation in wheat import norms is a matter of concern, as India has already aligned its grain import norms with the internationally-accepted CODEX level to ease imports.

The new import norms allow wheat with pests such as ergot and dwarf bunt in miniscule quantities. These pests have the potential to adversely affect India's wheat crop if virulent strains from other countries are imported along with wheat.

The relaxed norms now stand out in stark contract to India's stringent import parameters in the initial tenders to import wheat.

The first tender floated by India to import 500,000 tonnes of wheat had specified that imported wheat should be completely free of ergot and dwarf bunt and had zero tolerance for a long list of other pests.

The tender had evoked lukewarm response due to rigid norms. The government subsequently started easing norms to facilitate imports and eventually aligned them with CODEX.

An official with a multinational trading house said the further relaxation in import norms may enable US participation in India's wheat import process, particularly in the tender to import 400,000 tonnes, which closes today.

US companies have so far not participated in India's wheat import tenders owing to stringent import norms.

The official said the relaxation also seems to be aimed at encouraging private wheat imports, which have been barely 100,000 tonnes thus far, despite a cut in import duty from 50 per cent to 5 per cent.