Strict time limit on sugar, pulses storage at ports

In a recent measure to prevent hoarding of essential commodities, the government has told all importers of sugar and pulses to empty the godowns at all ports within three days of receiving imports at any of them.

Beyond three days, the importers will have to pay a steep fee for storage. The revised charges will be double the rate of the first three days for 4-10 days, treble for 11-20 days and four times for 21-30 days. Storage, even with fines, is banned beyond 30 days. These take effect immediately, till March 31 next year.

A notification to this effect has been issued by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports. Official sources said in some ports sugar and pulses’ importers have been using the storage facility for parking the consignment after landing for months.

However, various importers of raw sugar, refined sugar and pulses have taken up the matter with the ministry of consumer affairs. Sugar importers said offloading a consignment from a ship itself takes more than four to five days. "It is virtually impossible to remove the entire consignment within 30 days,” they added.