ONION Trade rules/regulations
- The government yesterday put stocking limits on onion traders (wholesalers/retailers) till 31st Dec. 2020 in light of the rising onion prices. This has been done as per the recent amendments done in "Essential Commodities Act 1955". The amendment says:
- "Stocking limit restrictions can be imposed only in case of extraordinary price rise i.e. 100% increase in case of perishables and 50% increase in case of non-perishable foodstuffs over the price prevailing immediately preceding 12 months, or average retail price of last five years, whichever is lower.
- The all-India average retail price variation of onions as of 21.10.2020, when compared to last year, is 22.12%, and when compared to the last 5 years average is 114.96%
In the past few days, Govt. has taken several other steps to prevent the onion prices rise, viz:
- On 14th Sept. 2020, Govt. of India banned the export of onions as per "The Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation.) Act of 1992"
- On 21st Oct. 2020, Govt. of India relaxed the conditions for fumigation and additional declaration on Phytosanitary Certificate under the Plant Quarantine Order, 2003 (issued under the Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914) for import up to December 15, 2020.
- As per WTO Agreement on "Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures", which sets out the basic rules for food safety and animal and plant health standards, member countries can set their own standards on plant and animal health standards. But it also says regulations must be based on science.
- Under, Price Stabilization Fund (PSF), Agencies like National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) procure mostly perishable agri commodities (like onion, potatoes, etc.) [through interest-free loan given from this PSF Fund] during the harvest season and then if prices go high, then these agencies release the stock in a calibrated manner to major mandis, to a retail supplier such as Safal, Kendriya Bhandar & NCCF and also to State Governments to cool down the prices
Source: PIB
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