Jute packaging order may be phased out

The textile ministry is considering a recommendation of the Working Group on Chemicals and Petro-chemicals to phase out the Jute Packaging Materials Act (JPMA), 1987, and promote use of plastic bags for packing foodgrain and sugar. The move, it goes through, will mean the end of the compulsory packing of food grain and sugar in jute bags.

The standing advisory committee on jute, headed by Textile Secretary AK Singh, is considering the recommendations. Ministry sources said once the committee finalised its views, the matter would be sent to the Union Cabinet.

The Act was introduced in 1987 as a temporary measure to help the jute industry against the synthetic sack industry. The Act made it mandatory to pack bulk commodities like foodgrain, sugar, cement and fertilisers in jute sacks. It was to be phased out by 1994 but continues despite repeated demands from both the synthetic sack industry and the user sectors.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet approved compulsory packing for all foodgrain and sugar in jute bags for 2007-08 (July-June). Consumer packs of 25 kg and below and exports were, however, exempted.

Even though fertilisers and cement have been taken out of the Act's ambit, the law still applies to food grain and sugar and is strangulating demand for synthetic sacks, besides denying the producers the choice of cheaper and better packs, sources say.

Even studies on suitability of plastic woven sacks (PWS) for edible commodities like food grain and sugar by leading institutions like Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Central Food Technological Research Institute and National Sugar Institute have established the superiority of PWS over jute bags. The studies recommended the use of PWS for long-term storage of edible commodities like food grain and sugar.

The volume of material required for jute and paper sacks is six times and three times that of PWS, respectively. Net energy consumption for bulk packaging of 1 million metric tonnes of commodity is 1,80,000 giga joule (GJ) for PWS, which is much lower than the energy consumed for manufacturing jute sacks (3,33,000 GJ) or paper sacks (6,38,000 GJ).