Government of India
Ministry of commerce & Industry
Department of Commerce
Directorate General of Foreign Trade
Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi
Trade Notice No. 03 /2012
Date : 24th May, 2012
To,
All Custom Authorities / All RAs / Cotton Association of India / FIEO
Sub: Clarification regarding standard weight and tolerance in weight of 1 bale
of cotton.
Notification Number 113 issued on 4th May, 2012 deals with registration of
contracts for export of cotton. Para 2(iii) of this notification clearly mention
that 1 bale = 170 kgs. [ Thus 1 standard bale would be of 170 Kg weight]
- It has been brought to our notice that some exporters find it convenient to
have bales of lesser weight, and also that various bales may contain different
quantity of cotton depending on local condition. Thus a bale of cotton may weigh
more or less than the exact 170 Kg. A similar clarification was issued last year
to Cotton Association of India on 04.02.2011 and this should have settled the
issue. For greater clarity the following be noted:
- Presumption is that 1 bale would contain 170 Kgs. Hence if the allotment is
10 bales, then the exporter is permitted to export a maximum of 1700 Kgs or 1.7
MT. But if bales are of smaller weight it may be more than 10 bales, or if they
are of greater weight, it may be less than 10 bales. Thus when the permission is
for 10 bales, the implication is that there are 10 standard bales, each weighing
170 Kg. If the bales are non-standard, then it would be important to watch the
weight which must not exceed 1.7 MT irrespective of the number of such
non-standard bales.
- RC holders who are found to have defaulted in exporting the quantity
allowed would be liable for penal action as mentioned in
Policy Circular No. 51
dated 28.12.2011. Here critical test on “quantity” would be weight (taking 1
bale = 170 Kg) and not number of bales. Any shortfall upto 5% in weight,
however, will not invite penal action.
- This issues with the approval of DGFT.
Hardeep Singh
Joint DGFT
E mail:[email protected]
(F.No.01/91/180/1194/AM10/EC)