Commerce ministry imposes minimum import price on pepper

Government has set minimum floor price on pepper import at Rs 500 per kg.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday approved the proposal of the Spices Board for fixing the CIF value of Rs 500 per kg as minimum import price for pepper to protect the interests of pepper growers.

“In recent times, decline in the domestic pepper price due to cheaper import of pepper from other origins has been a major concern among pepper growers. Pepper prices have gone down by nearly 35 percent in one year and have resulted in a lot of hardship for pepper growers,” a government statement said.

Fixing of Minimum Import Price will help in improving the domestic price particularly when the harvesting season of pepper is fast approaching, the statement said.

Farmers' associations have demanded taking of stringent measures including fixing of Minimum Import Price (MIP) for pepper to prevent cheaper imports of pepper into the country from other origins.

Since most of the pepper-producing countries are in the ASEAN region, there have also been apprehensions of pepper from these countries, being routed through Sri Lanka taking advantage of lower duty under SAFTA and ISLFTA, for availing concessional import duty.