Foundation to PM: Curb smuggling of arecanut

Mangaluru: The Arecanut Research and Development Foundation (ARDF) president, D Veerendra Heggade, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instruct ministries to take stringent action against the smuggling of arecanut.
Heggade’s plea to Modi came in a press release on Thursday. He elaborated how the illegal smuggling in of arecanut from outside the country was affecting prices and farmers.
India produces 15.63 lakh tonnes of arecanut every year and is the backbone of nearly 16 million people of the country, Heggade wrote. Smuggling destablises the price of arecanut grown locally and it would affect the livelihood and financial position of lakhs of farmers.
“Inspite of the fact that India is self-sufficient in arecanut, around 24,000 tonnes of arecanut are being imported legally every year. Recently, the minister of state for finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, stated that smuggling of arecanut still exists. He also stated that the quantity of arecanut traded outside the tax network is not available and that the Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare reported that around 15% of arecanut is traded by Cooperatives such as CAMPCO Limited of Mangaluru, TSS of Sirsi, MAMCOS, Shivamogga and TUMOCS in Chennagiri etc. while 85% of the Arecanut is traded by private traders,” Heggade said.
The illegal activity of smugglers will have a bad impact on the revenues generated in the form of GST on arecanut, he said and urged the Prime Minister to take stringent action on such illegal import of arecanut and its transport without proper legal documents.
In order to curb under invoicing of arecanut, a competent nodal agency in the cooperative sector familiar with both white and red arecanuts, such as the CAMPCO or ARDF, may be identified to evaluate and give reports on such goods. “Being an arecanut grower, I urge the Prime Minister to instruct the ministries to take stringent action on these matters so that the arecanut farmers as well the country as a whole will benefit,” he said.