NEW DELHI, July 7: The centre on Thursday imposed restrictions on outbound shipments of wheat flour or atta, maida and semolina, a move aimed at containing price rise.
Exporters of these commodities would now need approval of the inter-ministerial committee on export of wheat for the shipments from July 12.
The move banning export of flour follows the ban imposed on exports of wheat in May. “Export policy of wheat flour (atta) remains free but export shall be subject to recommendation of inter-ministerial committee on export of wheat,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
The new approval framework will be applicable for wheat flour (atta), maida, semolina (rava/ sirgi), wholemeal atta and resultant atta.
According to the notification, the necessary modalities with regard to quality of wheat flour will be notified separately.
The provisions under the Foreign Trade Policy regarding transitional arrangement would not be applicable under this notification.
In 2021-22, India exported wheat flour worth USD 246.57 million. In May, India banned wheat exports in a bid to check high prices amid concerns of wheat output being hit by a scorching heat wave and the move caused world-wide concern fearing shortage of the commodity in the poorer countries already hit by Russia – Ukraine war, one of the largest exporters of wheat.
(Manas Dasgupta)
