FTP - Export of Meat - Requirement of APEDA registered abattoir deferred
AS per DGFT Notification No. 82 (RE 2010)/2009-14 dated 31.10.2011,
Export of meat and meat products will be allowed subject to the exporter furnishing a declaration, attached with copies of valid APEDA Plant Registration Certificate(s) to the customs at the time of exports that the above items have been obtained/ sourced from an APEDA registered integrated abattoir or from APEDA registered meat processing plant which sources raw material exclusively from APEDA registered integrated abattoir/abattoir .
Now it has been decided to grant some transition time to make this provision effective. Accordingly, this provision will come into effect after six months i.e. from 15th June 2012.
The stipulation that raw material for export of meat and meat products must be sourced exclusively from APEDA registered abattoir/integrated abattoir will come into effect on 15.06.2012, instead of 31.10.2011.
Background: Actually the validity of this notification had been challenged in the Bombay High Court on the ground that it is discriminatory and is, therefore, violative of the fundamental right under Article 14 of the Constitution and constitutes an unreasonable restraint on the right to carry on business thereby infringing Article 19 (1)(g) of the Constitution. The High Court by a decision dated 1st December 2011 dismissed the writ petition.
Another plea made by the petitioner was that the condition had been imposed all of a sudden and it will take sometime for persons who were otherwise registered with APEDA as a meat processing plant to provide an integrated abattoir. The High Court granted two weeks time to the petitioner to make a representation to the Government and the Government was to take a decision expeditiously.
Apparently, the Government has taken a decision and allowed six months time to implement the new procedure.
But there was another question. What about the stock of meat already lying with the petitioner, which does not have the required certificate? Now that this requirement is deferred by six months, the existing stock can be exported.
The High Court passed an order within one month from the date of issue of notification and the Government responded within 15 days. Some real fast work! This is how the system should work. But the Government should have visualized this problem while issuing the notification in the first place.
There is a strong feeling among officers in the field and traders that the big babus sitting in Delhi and manufacturing notifications have no field experience and do not know ground realities.
DGFT Notification No. 89/(RE-2010)/2009-14, Dated: December 15, 2011