KOCHI: Cochin Port should be designated as the port for the import of pepper to the country under the minimum import price scheme, say industry experts. The ports in other parts of the country are not keeping a strict vigil on import of the spice under the MIP scheme leading to flooding of the market with cheap imports through Sri Lanka, they said.
The domestic price of the pepper has crashed as nearly 25,000 tonne of the spice has landed in the country with mainly traders using the loopholes in the Indo-Sri Lanka free trade pact to source pepper from Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil and then routing it through Sri Lanka to India. The pepper processing and exporters mostly based in Kochi, importing the commodity for processing and re-export, are getting the flak for fall in prices for no fault of theirs, says Jojan Malayil, of Bafna Enterprises, a process-exporter of spices.
The data with Director General of Foreign Trade and Spices Board will show that import by processor- exporters remained in the range of 15,000-16,000 tonne for the past three years. The surge in import was mainly accounted by traders based in the upcountry markets, Mr. Malayil said.
Making Kochi as the designated port for the import of the spice will help in curbing activities of the unscrupulous elements importing the commodity at cheap rates to sell in the domestic market. The price of Malabar Grade-1 pepper is in the range of Rs 5,000 per tonne while pepper from Vietnam and Indonesia could be imported for a landed price of Rs 2,450 per tonne, industry sources said.
