With the price of arecanut beginning to fall, Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (CAMPCO), Mangaluru, on Friday, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to ensure that when illegally imported arecanut seized by the government is auctioned the floor price is maintained.
In his letter, president of the cooperative A. Kishore Kumar Kodgi said the minimum import price (Cost, Insurance and Freight – CIF value) for arecanut has been fixed at ₹351 a kg. When the illegally imported arecanut is seized, it is auctioned by agencies such as Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). The government should auction the seized arecanut at ₹351 a kg. When it is auctioned below the minimum import price, the seized imported arecanut will flood the domestic market at a cheaper rate. Such an auction destabilises the domestic market and hits farmers hard. “... This measure is crucial to ensure fair trade practices and discourage any attempts to undermine the market...,” Mr. Kodgi said.
He said that all seized arecanut should undergo rigorous testing at accredited laboratories before auctioning. Otherwise, the health of consumers in the domestic market would be at risk.
