Govt to monitor import data of rice, wheat

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FE Report
The government has taken a move to monitor import of rice and wheat to thwart any illegal practice of a section of importers, who are allegedly showing false data on import.
The Department of Food recently sought co-operation of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for scrutinising the import statistics of the food products.
The Department of Food has been purchasing rice and wheat through both international and local tenders.
In both cases, the department seeks to buy the grains that are imported. It is mandatory for the suppliers to sell imported rice and wheat to the government.
It is alleged that some of the importers procure the locally produced grains and sell them to the government by showing false letters of credit (L/Cs) against import, sources said.
They said the unscrupulous importers also claim foreign exchange against the false import.
The sources said such illegal practice creates scarcity of those essentials in the local market.
The government has directed the department to purchase the food grains after checking all related information.
Under the circumstances, the Department of Food has requested the customs department to provide all import data of such food grains, entered through land and sea ports.
In order to protect consumers' right, the purchasing centre of the government has to check the necessary papers to make sure that the food grains are imported.
The department has already given directives to its field level officers to communicate with the customs authorities of land and seaports for collecting necessary data in this regard, he said.
The purchase committee of government recently decided to procure 48,000 tonnes of rice and 0.1 million tonnes of wheat locally.