Cabinet approves easier wheat import norms

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved new wheat import rules that conform with international food standards, officials said, setting the ground for wider participation in an import tender.

Stringent quality specifications set in a May tender for 3 million tonnes of wheat had resulted in a lukewarm response, with only two bidders qualifying for 800,000 tonnes.

On Monday, the State Trading Corporation issued a fresh import tender for 2.2m tonnes of the grain, easing the rules to attract more bidders.

“The new standards for wheat have been approved to bring it down to Codex level,” rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told reporters after a cabinet meeting. The WTO has charged the Codex Alimentarius Commission with developing guidelines for global food standards.

“This will not mean any major changes in the present tender,” an official at the STC said. The new standards would enable wider participation in the tender —which closes on June 20 — by wheat exporting countries, officials said.

Under the new tender, the moisture content can go up to 13.8% from 13.5%. Fumigation rules have been altered and the tolerable level of fungi and pests allowed has been increased.

In previous tenders, the government had made it mandatory for the wheat to be fumigated by methyl bromide, a chemical banned in some countries.

In another concession, quality certificates — required before payments can be made— will now be issued at the port of origin rather than on arrival in Indian shores. This would save shippers from freight losses if the certificate was denied on arrival.

Facing a shortfall in production, the government had contracted to buy wheat overseas for the first time in six years.

This year’s harvest is estimated at 71.5m tonnes, down from earlier projections of 73m tonnes after rains and hailstorms damaged the crop in March.