Duty free import of refined or white sugar will be allowed only through Electronic Data Inter-change (EDI) ports, the government has said. With EDI, all the import-export related documents are processed on-line.
"Import of refined or white sugar allowed to be imported at 'Nil' rate of customs...Shall be permitted only through EDI ports/locations," Director General of Foreign Trade said in a statement here.
Through the modern EDI systems, the exporters will be able to see their transaction bills and shipment bills.
"About 25 major ports, which account for about 90 per cent of the country's imports, come under EDI," Federation of Indian Export Organisations Director General Ajay Sahai said, adding, that it would help the government keep a tab on the quantity of sugar imported on daily basis.
The government had allowed state-run trading firms MMTC, STC and PEC to import refined sugar up to 10 lakh tonnes at zero duty till 1 August.
Source : Business Standard