New Delhi: The government on Wednesday imposed restrictions on imports of silver and certain precious metal jewellery till March 31, 2026, due to a surge in imports from Thailand and some other Asean countries.
“The import policy…has been amended from ‘free’ to ‘restricted’ with immediate effect,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
Goods under the restriction category need a licence from the government.
The restricted products include articles of jewellery of precious metal, silver, and unstudded and other jewellery, which were free earlier.
Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprises 10 countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Officials said Thailand isn’t a silver producing country and a surge in imports is a case of circumvention of duty under the Asean-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA). “There was a surge of up to 40 metric tonnes of silver coming from Thailand in an attempt to evade duty,” an official said. “Around 98% of the imports of these products was coming from Thailand.” The move, aims to curb misuse of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and address large-scale imports of silver in the guise of finished jewellery.
Rice export
In a separate notification, the DGFT amended the export policy of non-basmati rice by incorporating an additional policy condition wherein its exports shall be permitted only upon registration of contracts with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda). “Export policy of non-basmati rice has been amended by incorporating an additional policy condition to the extent that export of non-basmati rice shall be permitted only upon registration of contracts with the Apeda,” DGFT said in a notification.
Ethanol export
The government Wednesday notified additional policy condition for the export of second-generation ethanol, which is produced through materials such as bagasse, wood waste, and industrial waste.
The DGFT said that export of second generation ethanol, which is produced through cellulosic material such as bagasse, wood waste and having low carbon-dioxide emissions or high GHG (greenhouse gas) reduction, and which do not compete with food crops for land use “is permitted” for fuel and non-fuel purposes.
