Dechen Dolkar

The Government of India (GoI) has lifted the import restriction on ginger from Bhutan.

The ministry of commerce and industry, department of commerce, notified on May 19 that the import of wholly produced ginger from Bhutan is free subject to Article–I of the agreement on trade, commerce and transit between India and Bhutan.

The notification states that the amendment was made in the import policy condition of fresh ginger under chapter 09 of the ITC (HS) 2022, schedule-I. “The central government hereby amends the policy condition under ITC (HS) 09101110 of Chapter of ITC (HS) 2022.”

Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited (FCBL) has bought 3,208MT of gingers worth Nu 77.2M from farmers across the country so far.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FCBL, Naiten Wangchuk, said that before the restriction was lifted the corporation had been exporting small quantities of ginger to Bangladesh.

“Now with the restriction being lifted, FCBL is exporting ginger to India,” the CEO said.

The CEO said that the gingers are being stored in the FCBL godown for three months.

The export of ginger from Bhutan was stopped in May 2021 as per the import policy of India.

Bhutan used to export an average of 3,000MT of ginger annually and import 1.96 MT of ginger according to the Bhutan Trade Statistic in 2021.