Onion Export Ban Extended Indefinitely

India has extended the export ban on onion till further orders, the government said. Earlier, onion exports were prohibited till March 31 this year to control domestic politics.

“Export prohibition on export of onions valid till 31st March 2024, is extended until further orders,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a 22 March notification.

India exported onions worth $431.78 million in April-January FY24 with $187.5 million shipped to Bangladesh and $48.12 million to Sri Lanka.

In December last year, the government prohibited the export of onions till March 31, 2024 but allowed their shipments based on permission granted by the central government to other countries on their request.

Earlier this month, the government had permitted the export of 50,000 tonnes of onions to Bangladesh and 14,400 tonnes to the UAE through the National Cooperative Exports Limited.

To check the soaring price of onion, the government imposed a minimum export price of $800 per tonne on October 28 till December 31, 2023. In August last year, India imposed a 40% duty on the export of onions to improve supplies of the staple vegetable in the domestic market until December 31, 2023 but this was lifted to give a better price.

[DGFT Notification No. 81/2023 dated 22 March, 2024]

Effect of this Notification: Export prohibition on export of onions under HS Code 0703 10 19 valid till 31^st March, 2024 is extended until further orders.

Subject: -Amendment in export policy of Onions.]

S.O. (E): In exercise of powers conferred by Section 3 read with section 5 of the foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 (No. 22 of 1992), as amended, read with Para 1.02 and 2.01 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023, the Central Government hereby amends Notification No. 49 dt. 07.12.2023 regarding Export Policy of Onions in Chapter 07 of Schedule 2 of the l TC (HS) Export Policy, as under:

Tariff item HS Code	Unit	Item description	Export Policy	Revised Export Policy
0703 10 19	KG	Onions:	Prohibited till 31.03.2024	Prohibited until further orders.

2. Provisions under Para-3 of Notification No. 49 dt. 07.12.2023 remains unchanged.

(Issued from File No. 01/91/171/50/Misc/ AM21/e-26586)