MEP on Onions Cut to US$150
from US$350/MTs
Great Fall from $900 on 14 Aug 2013
A meeting was held on December 25, 2013 between the
Minister of Agriculture and the Minister for Commerce and Industry to discuss
the issues related with sharp decline in the wholesale prices of onions in the
producing mandies of Maharashtra and need for a review of MEP. This meeting was attended by senior officials
from the Departments of Agriculture & Cooperation, Consumer Affairs and
Commerce.
After
reviewing the situation of arrivals in the producing and major consuming mandies,
retail and wholesale modal rates as well as foreign trade scenario, inter-alia,
the following decisions were taken:
Decisions:
(i) To further
reduce the MEP from USD 350 PMT to USD 150 PMT.
(ii) Secretaries
of Departments of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Agriculture/ Inter Ministerial
Committee (IMC) on onions will regularly and closely monitor the arrivals,
wholesale modal prices and retail prices of onions in the country. The
government will make appropriate interventions in future as and when required
to ensure price stability for consumers and adequate domestic availability of
onions along with price protection for farmers with a view to balance the
interests of both farmers and domestic consumers.
[DGFT Notification No. 61 dated 26th December 2013]
Subject: Export Policy of Onions.
In exercise of powers conferred by Section 5 of the Foreign Trade
(Development& Regulation) Act, 1992 (No. 22 of 1992) read with Para 1.3 of the
Foreign Trade Policy, 2009-2014, the Central Government amends para 2 of
Notification No.03(RE-2012)/2009-14 dated 29.06.2012 read with Notification
No.59(RE-2013)/2009-14 dated
19.12.2013 with immediate effect .
2. The
amended para 2 of Notification No. 03(RE-2012)/2009-14 dated 29.06.2012 will
now read as:
“Export of onion for the item
description at Serial Number 51 & 52 of Schedule 2 of ITC(HS)
Classification of Export & Import Items shall be permitted subject to a
Minimum Export Price(MEP) of US$ 150 per Metric Ton F.O.B. or as notified by
DGFT from time-to-time”.
3. Effect
of this Notification:
Export of all varieties of onions as described above will be
subject to a Minimum Export Price (MEP) of US$ 150 per MT.