Indian Customs

Collected

Indian Customs stops hundreds of trucks at the Bangladesh border

Meanwhile, Indian exporters feared possible losses due to wheat being stuck at the border. They fear that if the transport of wheat is delayed, the required crop will start rotting due to rains and in doing so they will face loss of crores of taka.

According to sources, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification on May 13. The circular immediately banned the export of wheat from India. The sanctions were imposed in the wake of Russia's ongoing aggression in Ukraine. Because of this war the global wheat supply has been severely damaged.

Although the DGFT has announced a halt to wheat exports, the Indian government has instructed that all bonds or LCs issued before the 13th will be exported in a timely manner. However, wheat that has been completed or paid before 13 May is still not allowed to enter Bangladesh.

Ujjal Saha, general secretary of the West Bengal Exporters Coordination Committee (WBECC), said, ‘About one lakh metric tonnes of wheat is stuck at the Mahadipur land port in Malda district. We have received money from Bangladeshi importers for these wheat before 13th May. There is no reason not to allow these trucks to enter Bangladesh.

An Indian exporter, who did not want to be named, said the DGFT had insisted that there was no impediment to sending consignments to Bangladesh before the 13th. He complained, however, that the customs authorities at the land port on the Bangladesh border were insisting on the DGFT's order that all formalities of wheat, which had been completed before the ban, could be exported.

"We need a directive from the DGFT," said an Indian customs official. Otherwise, trucks will not be allowed to enter Bangladesh.