The government has extended the ban on exports of de-oiled rice bran till September 30 this year, according to an official notification. De-oiled rice bran is a major ingredient in the preparation of cattle and poultry feed. It was first banned in July 2023 and has been extended from time to time. “Export of de-oiled rice bran is prohibited up to September 30, 2025,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a notification.
According to experts, rise of prices of the feed is one of the major reasons for increasing milk prices in the country and putting a ban on the exports can help increase availability of the product in the domestic market, thereby containing rates. As per estimates, in cattle feed, about 25 per cent rice bran extraction is used.
In a separate notice, the DGFT has revised the wastage permissible and standard input output norms with regard to export of jewellery and articles. It was earlier revised in November last year. The wastage norms are the permissible amount of gold or silver that can be lost during the manufacturing process of jewellery for export.
Standard input-output norms (SION) are rules that define the amount of input/inputs required to manufacture a unit of output for export purposes. Input output norms are applicable for products such as electronics, engineering, chemical, and food products, including fish and marine products, handicrafts, plastic and leather products.
To manufacture jewellery and other items for exports, the precious metals are imported duty-free. Exports by weight must be in line with the amount of metal imported duty-free minus the wastage that can occur at the making stage. The wastage norms are strictly imposed to ensure that the duty-free metal does not find its way to the domestic market.