VISAKHAPATNAM: Expressing concern over the recent incident of diversion of rice meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS), Chief commissioner of Customs, Visakhapatnam, Sanjay Rathi on Friday held a stakeholders’ meeting and stated that their department would work in total cooperation with the state government in its efforts to stop illegal exports in the future.
The Chief Commissioner emphasized to all the stakeholders to put in additional efforts to stamp out the menace of such illegal exports and extend their cooperation to the state agencies in this regard.
He said the alleged PDS rice diversion is illegal, and the diversion was a blow to the underprivileged section for whom this rice is meant. He said that to curb the menace, the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Vijayawada, convened a meeting at Kakinada on Dec 4 with all the stakeholders and discussed ways and means to curb the menace.
He said that in the Visakhapatnam Zone, he convened a meeting of all the stakeholders of various ports in Andhra Pradesh on Friday. The meeting was attended by the Rice Exporters Association, Rice Millers Associations, Cocanada Chamber of Commerce, Customs Brokers Association, officers from Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, as well as Kakinada Anchorage Port, Stevedores Association, representatives from Major CFS and logistics companies, and officers from the Civil Supplies department, Visakhapatnam.
The Cocanada Chamber of Commerce representatives told the commissioner that it was better to curb the menace before the cargo entered the port so that legal exports were not disturbed. They expressed that the PDS rice should not be diverted for any use other than the intended purpose.
N. Sridhar, Principal Commissioner, Visakhapatnam Customs House, explained the procedures and provisions with respect to the export of rice and stated that the department would put in every effort to curb the illegal export of PDS rice. He also stated that due diligence is being done while processing the documents related to rice export.
