India's Pulse Importers Confused

NEW DELHI - Jun 12/06 - SNS -- Pulse importers in India are confused by rules surrounding the government's decision to temporarily drop the country's 10% import duty on pulses.

At issue is the requirement that duty-free pulses only be imported through customs ports that have capacity to handle bulk imports. Local traders are unsure which ports other than Mumbai, JNPT, Kandla and Chennai have bulk handling facilities.

At the same time, they wonder if pulses imported in bags and/or loaded into containers in bulk or bags at these ports would also be duty-free. They claim more than half the pulses imported by India come in containers.

While bulk pea shippers in Canada and Australia may emphasize break bulk shipments, exporters of other classes of pulses and in other countries may focus instead on container shipments.

The Pulses Importers Association of India want the Ministry of Finance to clarify that all consignments of pulses, whether shipped in bags or bulk in containers or break bulk vessels, are exempted from customs duty.