November 19, 2020: The Food Safety and Standards Authority Of India (FSSAI) has written to its authorised officers at the ports of entries to facilitate the import clearance of pulses on priority basis.
The apex food regulator has issued an order in this regard as well directing the officers to expedite the clearance of the pulses. The ports of entries where imports are expected to arrive in large volumes include JNPT Mumbai, Chennai, and Mundra Port.
“The authorised officers are hereby directed to facilitate and carry out food import clearance process on priority without delay for the consignments of imported pulses,” the order reads and added that the importer of pulses may carry out advance filing of Bills of Entries in Food Clearance System of FSSAI.
The Department of Consumer Affairs-(DoCA) has sought help from the FSSAI for speedy clearance of the imported pulses, in view of the rising trend in prices of the pulses. The measures are being taken to maintain and augment the availability of the pulses in the country.
It is pertinent to mention here that last month, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu had placed requirement for over 1Lakh MT of Tur under retail intervention scheme of price moderation of pulses and subsequently the DoCA had decided to release 40,000 MT of Tur from the buffer stock in open market sale.
According to the DoCA as on October 12, the all-India average retail price of Tur and Urad was observed to have increased by 23.71 per cent and 39.10 per cent respectively, over last year. Several consuming centers of these pulses have recorded an increase of over 20 per cent during the past 15 days.
Source: FnBnews.com
