The Basmati Rice Farmers and Exporters Development Forum (BFDF) has urged the Indian government to step in amid a sharp rise in shipping-related charges on stranded consignments, warning that the situation is escalating into a “national trade crisis.”
In a letter addressed to the chairman of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), BFDF chairperson Priyanka Mittal highlighted that repeated representations made by exporters and industry bodies to shipping lines have failed to yield any meaningful response or corrective action.
The forum said exporters are facing mounting financial stress as shipping charges for consignments stranded at ports and on the high seas have multiplied significantly. The situation has exposed exporters to risks such as contractual defaults, order cancellations, and deterioration in cargo quality—particularly for perishable food products like basmati rice.
Mittal stressed that the issue goes beyond a commercial dispute between private stakeholders and requires urgent policy-level intervention. “In the absence of such intervention, exporters are likely to suffer significant financial losses, disruption of business operations and long-term erosion of international trade relationships, the consequences of which may extend well beyond the present crisis,” she said.
The BFDF has called on the government to issue directions or advisories to shipping lines, port authorities, terminal operators and Inland Container Depots. It has specifically requested that the current situation be recognised as a force majeure event with retrospective effect from March 1.
Such a classification, the forum argued, would enable immediate waiver and suspension of detention, demurrage and storage charges on containers destined for affected West Asian markets, offering much-needed relief to exporters grappling with unprecedented logistical disruptions.
Industry stakeholders warn that unless swift action is taken, the crisis could dent India’s reputation in global agricultural trade and strain long-standing relationships with key importers in West Asia.