Extraordinary circumstances of ECA not applicable to processors, other value chain players: Agri Secretary

Processors of agricultural generate and value chain vendors are retained out of the purview of inventory holding restrict when incredible situations situation in the amended Essential Commodities Act is invoked owing to selling price hike, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal has stated.

The Agricultural Secretary, who tackled a webinar organised by ag-tech get started-up Agribazar on recent agricultural reforms on Thursday evening, was responding to concerns elevated by other contributors.

On June 5, the govt amended the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) of 1955 to hold key agricultural commodities these as cereals, pulses and oilseeds out of its purview and also brought in two ordinances that would enable trade in agricultural generate outside the conventional agricultural marketplace and offer good selling price and protection to farmers who have interaction in contract farming with processors and other purchasers of agricultural commodities.

“These incredible situations are not relevant to processors or value chain vendors of any generate, whatever be the situations, for their yearly potential and even to the export commitments,” Agarwal stated.

Stock restrict and regulation

Below the amended EC Act, agri-meals generate can only be regulated underneath incredible situations these as war, famine, incredible selling price increase, and organic calamity. In the circumstance of selling price hike, the trigger for involving the inventory restrict for perishable commodities is one hundred for each cent raise in the retail selling price of the commodity in excess of the immediately previous 12 months or the regular retail selling price of the past five yr, whichever is lower. And for non-perishable generate, the trigger is the selling price of 50 for each cent.

Concerning amount actively playing industry for non-public e-marketplaces, the Agriculture Secretary stated they will be handled at par with the Condition-sponsored eNAM (Countrywide Agriculture Market place). “eNAM is a system that operates in mandis. The trade ordinances that the govt arrived out with do not contact mandis. No specific spot is retained for eNAM in the ordinance. Both equally the govt and non-public platforms will have equivalent footing,” he stated.

According to Agarwal, the ideal section of the ordinance is all electronic platforms for agri generate can run by themselves. There is no registration or regulation essential, besides for the truth that they have to declare their good trade modalities, payment modalities and logistic modalities. And they have to comply with these modalities. The govt has retained a provision for framing norms for this ecosystem at a afterwards issue, if essential to use, he included.

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