The DGFT vide Trade Notice No. 08/2023 dated June 20, 2023 has issued procedure for the allocation of quota for the export of broken rice on humanitarian and food security grounds, based on requests received from Governments of other Countries.
The Government of India amended the export policy of broken rice under HS Code 1006 40 00 from ‘Free’ to ‘Prohibited’ vide Notification No. 31/2015-2020 dated September 08, 2022. The Notification came into effect from September 09, 2022. The provisions as under Para 1.05 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-2020 regarding transitional arrangement is not be applicable under this Notification for export of broken rice. During the period from September 09, 2022 till September 15, 2022, which was later extended upto October 15, 2022, the following consignments of broken rice were allowed to be exported:
i. where loading of broken rice on the ship has commenced before this Notification;
ii. where the shipping bill is filed and vessels have already berthed or arrived and anchored in Indian ports and their rotation number has been allocated before this Notification; The approval of loading in such vessels will be issued only after confirmation by the concerned Port Authorities regarding anchoring/berthing of the ship for loading of broken rice prior to the Notification; and
iii. where broken rice consignment has been handed over to the Customs before this Notification and is registered in their system / where broken rice consignment has entered the Customs Station for exportation before this Notification and is registered in the electronic systems of the concerned Custodian of the Customs Station with verifiable evidence of date and time stamping of these commodities having entered the Customs Station prior to September 08, 2022. The period of export shall be upto November 30, 2022.”
The Government of India further amended the export policy of broken rice vide Notification No. 07/2023 dated May 24, 2023 incorporating the following policy condition:
“Export will be allowed on the basis of permission granted by the Government of India to other Countries to meet their food security needs and based on the request of their Government”.
The requests received from the Government of Senegal, Gambia and Indonesia for import of broken rice from India during the FY 2023-24 has been approved by the competent authority.
Accordingly, applications are invited from exporters of rice for allocation of quota. In order to maintain objectivity and utmost transparency in allocation of the quota, the mode of allocation is decided as under:-
i. Applications may be submitted through an online portal;
ii. Only those exporters are eligible to submit applications who have exported rice (all varieties) to Senegal, Gambia and Indonesia in three years previous to FY in which the item was prohibited.
iii. Allocation may be made with minimum threshold of 8000 MT by sea.
iv. Application would be allowed only if the exporter applies for quantity more than the minimum threshold.
v. Allocation will be first made on the basis of pro-rata to average export of rice (all varieties) respectively to the country concerned in three years previous to FY in which the item was prohibited and quantity applied for, whichever is less subject to minimum threshold.
vi. Any unutilized quantity will then be reallocated again to the eligible exporters on pro-rata basis as in point V.
Based on the above mode of allocation, the procedure to apply for the export authorization under approved quota is outlined as below:-
a. Exporters can apply online through DGFT’s ECOM system for Export Authorisations Non-SCOMET Restricted Items (Please refer Trade Notice No. 03/2021-22 dated May 10, 2021. There is no need to send hard copy of the application via mail or post.
b. Validity of the Export Authorisation will be till December 31, 2023.
c. Online applications filed from June 21, 2023 to June 30, 2023 will only be considered.
d. The documents to be submitted along with the application must include the following:
i. Export data for three years previous to FY in which the item was prohibited;
All applicants seeking export authorization for restricted items may apply online by navigating to the DGFT website (https://www.dgft.gov.in) -> Services -> Export Management Systems -> License for Restricted Exports.
Deficient applications or applications received through mails or by post will not be considered.
The exporters who have been allocated the quota of broken rice will submit the ‘Landing Certificate’ within one month of completion of export of allocated quota of broken rice.
The Trade Notice can be accessed at: https://content.dgft.gov.in/Website/dgftprod/d2a001b3-7011-42ca-bde5-b6ce51964525/Trade%20Notice%20No.%2008-2023.pdf
