Coffee Board pulls up firm for fake exports to Libya
| The Coffee Board has initiated action against an Indian commodity-trading firm for allegedly exporting duty-free imported 1,300 tonne of Vietnamese coffee as Indian produce, a senior government official said on Friday. |
| The action follows a complaint by United Planters' Association of Southern India that (Upasi)"inferior" quality imported coffee was being re-exported as Indian produce. |
| Coffee can be imported duty-free provided a similar amount is re-exported after refining. However, the produce cannot be labelled 'made in India' and its origin has to be specified. |
| If the consignment is not re-exported, it attracts an import duty of 100 per cent. The alleged offender in the mentioned case is Princess MC Foods, coffee industry officials said. |
| The Coffee Board has started a probe into the company's antecedents, the official said. |
| "We are concerned with the import as the idea behind it is to blend the Vietnamese coffee with local produce and send the consignment as 'made-in-India'," Anil Bhandari, president, Upasi said. |
| "We have already informed the Coffee Board and the commerce ministry about the consignment, which has been shipped through Kandla Port," Bhandari said. |
| In January, a tea consignment from India to Libya was found inferior. On probe, it was found that the shipment was not produced in India but was re-exported as Indian tea. |
| After this incident, Upasi had persuaded the commerce ministry to issue strict guidelines to stop the practice, he said. |
| "We cut a sorry picture if inferior tea and coffee are sold in the international market as Indian beverages. This cannot be tolerated," Bhandari said.
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| The case in short |
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First Published: May 16 2005 | 12:00 AM IST