The Centre on Wednesday prohibited the import of pepper below the minimum import price of ₹500/kg, heeding to a demand by domestic pepper growers.
According to a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, under the Commerce Ministry, moved import of pepper and its derivatives from “Free” to “Prohibited” if the import price is ₹500 or less per kg.
The decision comes on the heels of the complaint by pepper growers that importers have been exploiting a loophole in an earlier notification. As pepper was defined as “free” in the December 6 notification, importers were able to get their consignments cleared by paying a small fine on invoiced value, they had said.
Now that it has now been moved to the “prohibited” list, the Customs will be able to take a stricter action.