The Tamil Nadu Cashew Processors and Exporters’ Association has urged the Union government to withdraw the existing 2.75% import duty on raw cashew.
In a memorandum addressed to Union Minister for Industries and Commerce Piyush Goyal, secretary of the Association M. Ramakrishnan said the cashew industry was already facing several constraints in a heavily competitive international market. “The industry was not able to compete with other countries, which had no import duty and meeting other export demands also remained difficult. Hence, the government should withdraw the import duty immediately.” he said.
The association demanded a permanent ban on semi-finished cashew kernels. This has been disturbing the balance of the domestic market since there is no specific code for semi-finished kernels. Mr. Ramakrishnan demanded the exempt of roasted cashew kernels from the purview of the ASEAN Trade Agreement that permitted duty free import of value-added cashew kernels. While value-added kernels are exempted from duty, plain cashew kernels were subject to a duty of 70%. They also want the withdrawal of a notification of the Ministry of Agriculture clubbing cashew husk under the HS code of raw cashew nuts with 2.5% duty.Cashew husk is an industrial waste and is widely used as a carrier to import cashew kernels mixed with cashew husk.
