Lankan pepper quantity capped

KOCHI: The Centre has imposed quantity restrictions on import of pepper from Sri Lanka under free trade agreement.

The total import of pepper under Indo-Sri Lanka free trade agreement would be restricted to 2,500 tonnes per annum, from April 1 to March 31, a Spice Board release said here on Wednesday.

The quantum of import of pepper for the current year would be arrived at by deducting the import of this item already made by Sri Lanka under the agreement Till November 21, the date of issue of the order, it said.

At the time of clearance of import, the importer must produce a certificate of origin issued by the concerned authorities in Sri Lanka. According to rough estimate the total import of pepper so far from Sri Lanka during April to September was about 4,000 tonnes.

Pepper import from Sri Lanka during the last year had increased to 6,700 tonnes from 4,865 tonnes in ‘04-05 and 4,915 tonnes in ‘03-04, the release said.