July 06, 2019
As per the
budget 2019-20 document, the customs duty on both plain and broken cashew
kernels will be raised.
Images by IT
The government Friday announced a hike in the import
duty on cashew kernels to 70% from the current 45%, a move which exporters body
CEPCI hailed saying it will help revive the crisis-hit industry.
As per the budget
2019-20 document, the customs duty on both plain and broken cashew kernels will
be raised.
However, the
council's request for a hike in the import duty and placing roasted cashew
under prohibited items is yet to be decided, Cashew Export Promotion Council of
India (CEPCI) Chairman R K Bhoodes said.
Also, the request to withdraw 2.5% import duty on
raw cashew nut which was much awaited by the industry is not seen addressed in
the budget," he said.
The CEPCI also
demanded the government to put a complete ban on the import of roasted cashew,
semi-finished cashews and husk, and to roll back the import duty on raw cashew
nuts.
According to the
council, the industry is heavily dependent on imported cashew and the import
duty has made the domestic processing unviable resulting in diversion of raw
cashew nut from other producing countries to our competing countries.
Apart from that, there has been a surge in imports
of plain and also semi-finished cashew kernels into the country by "mis-
declarations and making use of loopholes in the existing laws", it said.
A large volume of
plain cashew kernels are imported under the pretext of roasted cashews which
attracts zero duty under various Free Trade Agreements. Also, bulk volumes of
semi- finished kernels are imported under Advance Authorisation scheme and sold
in the domestic market, it said.
Besides, huge
volumes of broken cashew kernels are regularly been imported by mixing them
with cashew husk and declaring them as husk alone, the Council added.
"With these types of imports,
genuine processors or exporters find it difficult to survive and the industry
is almost at the verge of a total collapse," Bhoodes said.
Reporters
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