India Halts Milk & Milk Product Imports Under TRQ Since 2014-15: DGFT

New Delhi, July 1 (PTI) India has not provided any tariff rate quota (TRQ) for the import of milk and its products since 2014-15, a senior commerce ministry official said on Monday.

Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that in the last 20 years, the import of milk and milk products like skimmed milk powder under TRQ have been affected only in three years.

"No imports of milk and milk products under TRQ have been undertaken since 2014-15," he told reporters here.

Post 2011-12, there has been no import of skimmed milk powder imports by utilising the TRQ route.

The TRQ is a mechanism that allows imports of a set quantity of specific products at a lower customs duty. Tariff quotas are used on a wide range of products but most are in the agriculture sector. Cereals, meat, fruit and vegetables, and dairy products are the most common.

He said that there are no applications for TRQ for these products pending as on date.

Sarangi also rejected a news report stating that the Government of India has granted new duty concessions for the import of corn and vegetable oils under TRQs.

"In this regard, it may be noted that there are no new TRQsannounced by the Government of India," he said.