India bans onion export until March

India has banned the export of onions to other countries effective from December 8, says a notification issued by the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday (7 December).

The ban on the export of onion will be in place till March 31 next year, according to the notification.

The decision has been made to increase domestic availability and to keep prices in check.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification said the export of onions will be, however, allowed based on permission granted by the central government to other countries based on the request made by the countries.

According to the notification, consignments of onions will be allowed to be exported on fulfillment of any one of the following three conditions -

- Where loading of onions on the ship has commenced before this notification.

- Where the shipping bill is filed and vessels have already berthed or arrived and anchored in Indian ports for loading of onion and their rotation number has been allocated before this notification. The approval of loading in such vessels will be issued only after confirmation by the concerned Port Authorities regarding anchoring/berthing of the ship for loading of onions before the notification.

- Where consignments of onions have been handed over to the Customs before this notification and are registered in their system /where consignments of onions have entered the Customs Station for exportation before this notification and are registered in the electronic systems of the concerned Custodian of the Customs Station with verifiable evidence of date and time stamping of these commodities having entered the Customs Station before issuance of this Notification.

Earlier on August 20, the Revenue Department of the Indian Finance Ministry imposed a 40 percent duty on onion exports to Bangladesh, causing a hike in the price of the item mainly used as spice in local markets.

Later, the Indian government set a Minimum Export Price (MEP) of USD 800 per tonne on a free-on-board basis for the export of onions with effect from October 29.