India clears 500,000 T of corn import at a fairly reduced duty to boost poultry sector
India’s corn imports had jumped from 30,962 tonnes to 312,289 tonnes from 2018 to 2019 revealed the government data.
India normally imposes 60% on corn imports and it is the seventh-largest producer of corn in the world.
The corn imports under the tariff rate quota(TRQ) were taken into consideration end-purchasers in the poultry and starch supply sectors, the government administration said in a notice.
India had been a major importer of corn to Southeast Asia for a few years until the output began to fall and India started to import corn instead of producing it. As the demand for the same has been increasing for the past few years from domestic poultry producers and corn starch manufacturers it becomes imperative in such conditions to lower the import taxes.
India has strict rules to make sure there is no evidence of genetically modified organisms in imported grains and it itself also does not permit any usage or cultivation of any genetically modified crop. New Delhi likewise cleared imports from 10,000 tons of milk and cream powder during the current year at a concessional 15% import charge, the administration notice said.
India also approved import standards of 150,000 tons of rapeseed oil and sunflower oil conveying import duties of 45% and 50% separately in this year. India is the world’s largest importer of edible (consumable) oils. It basically imports rapeseed/canola oil from Canada and sunflower oil from Ukraine and Russia.
“Indian refiners may be unlikely to import rapeseed oil and sunflower oil under those tariff-rate quotas as the import tax on regular imports is actually lower, at 35%,” said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA), a Mumbai-based trade body.
