New Delhi July 23, 2013: The wool importers have been complaining of difficulty and harassment on quarantine issue for the last three years. Some Quarantine Officers and Custom Officers had stopped clearance of wool imports seeking animal quarantine clearance/ NOC.
The wool importers raised this issue before the Union Minister of Textiles Dr. K S Rao recently during his recent meeting with the Wool Industry Stakeholders.
Various associations of industry have been representing continuously that this step has created disruption and jam in smooth flow of wool import. The imported wool is being used for producing exportable products and hence, this step had, in fact, adversely affected domestic value addition and exports also.
Dr. Rao took up the matter and met with Union Agriculture Minister Shri Sharad Pawar on 17th July, 2013. The issue has been resolved by the issuance of clarification on 18th July, 2013 by Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture.
The Office Memorandum clarifies that the issue of requirement of Sanitary Import Permit/ NOC for import of wool is to be decided as per the notification No.S.O.794(E) dated 28.03.2008 issued by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. Accordingly as per clause 3(II)(V) of the Notification No.794(E) dated 28.3.2008, import of following varieties of wool do not require Sanitary Import Permit(SIP) from Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, or ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Animal Quarantine and Certification Services(AQCS) of the designated port. Hence, the consignment of the following varieties of wool need not be referred to AQCS of the concerned port for issuance of NOC for clearance of the product:-
“garneted stock of wool or of fine or coarse animal hair, wool and fine or coarse animal hair, carded or combed (including combed wool in fragments), yarn of carded wool not put up for retail sale, yarn of combed wool not put up for retail sale, yarn of fine animal hair (carded or combed) not put up for retail sale, yarn of wool or of fine animal hair put up for retail sale, yarn of coarse animal hair or of horse hair (including gimped horse hair yarn whether or not put up for retail sale), woven fabrics of carded wool or carded fine animal hair, woven fabrics of combed wool or carded fine animal hair, woven fabrics of coarse animal hair or of horse hair”
Dr. Rao has thanked the Shri Pawar for his quick response in resolving this long-standing issue. This clarification will remove the condition of NOC/ clearance certificates on above mentioned varieties of wool to the wool Importers, will aid smooth inflow of wool imports, help the domestic industry engaged in value addition, making carpets, woolen clothing, garments and other woolen products and also help in increasing the country’s exports. – CCI News Service
