Consumer Affairs Secretary reviews availability of pulses, meets industry stakeholders
Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs held meeting with Indian Mission in
Yangon on issues relating to pulses imports from Myanmar
The Secretary,
Department of Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare during a series of interactions
with representatives of pulses industry in the run up to operationalisation of
online stock monitoring from 15th April,
2024 emphasised that anyone found to be indulging in forward trade of pulses
would be dealt with firmly as per various provisions of Essential Commodities
Act.
The feedback from the industry and inputs from market
intelligence relating to the stock position with various market players have
been collated for further verification.
She also discussed with Indian Mission in Yangon on
issues relating to pulses imports from Myanmar such as import prices in the
wake of revised exchange rates and stocks held by importers in Myanmar. The
Indian Mission apprised that Rupee Kyat Settlement Mechanism has been
operationalised from 25th January,
2024 to simplify trade transactions and to make them more
efficient. The Central Bank of Myanmar has released guidelines for payment
procedures under Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) on 26th January 2024. The new mechanism will apply for both
sea and border trade and for trade in goods as well as services. Adoption of
the mechanism by traders will reduce costs associated with currency conversions
and eliminate complexities related to exchange rates by eliminating the need
for multiple currency conversations.
Dissemination about
the operationalization of this mechanism among trading communities esp pulses
importers is being separately done wherein they are being requested to utilize
Rupee/ Kyat direct payment system using SRVA through the Punjab National Bank.
The importers and other industry players like millers,
stockists, retailers etc have been asked to honestly declare their stock of
pulses, including imported Yellow Peas, on a weekly basis on the portal https://fcainfoweb.nic.in/psp/ from
15 April, 2024. The States and UTs have also been asked to enforce weekly
stock disclosure by all stockholding entities and verify the stocks declared by
them. Stocks in warehouses located in major ports and in pulses industry hubs
should be verified from time to time and strict action should be taken on
stockholding entities found to be reporting false information on stock
disclosure portal.