All India Cashew Association voices concern over surge in illegal import of the dry fruit

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Representational image. File

Representational image. File | Photo Credit: S.S. Kumar

The All India Cashew Association has urged the Union Commerce Ministry to instantly intervene and instrumentality steps to support the home cashew processing sector, successful the aftermath of surge successful amerciable import of cashew kernels.

In a missive addressed to Rakesh Agrawal, Secretary of the Union Commerce Ministry, M. Ramakrishnan, caput of the association, said that the cashew manufacture was nether immense accent owed to abnormally precocious cashew prices, portion home demands for kernels remains sluggish. This has made cashew processing economically unviable for a ample fig of units crossed the country.

“A large origin down the anemic home marketplace is the large-scale amerciable import of cashew kernels into India. These imports are being routed done misdeclaration of HSN codes, declaring cashew kernels arsenic carnal feed, cashew husk, oregon different unrelated products. A caller method has precocious emerged wherever plain cashew kernels are falsely declared arsenic “roasted cashews,” helium said.

The home marketplace is present being flooded with cashew kernels from Vietnam and African countries and Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are besides being misused to transmission specified imports, helium said.

Misleading sales

According to Mr. Ramakrishnan, these imports deceive consumers by being sold arsenic Indian kernels, raising nutrient information concerns and damaging the estimation of home products. These kernels are not lone cheaper successful prices but are besides inferior successful prime erstwhile compared to Indian cashew kernels.

They are besides being sold to consumers arsenic Indian cashew kernels, misleading buyers and causing harm to the estimation and credibility of Indian cashew kernels successful the home market. Continued unchecked, the concern risks large-scale shutdown of factories successful the labour-intensive agro-sector threatening the livelihood of implicit 10 lakh women workers crossed the country, helium said.

The relation has urged the Ministry to guarantee strict verification of HSN code, heighten customized verification astatine ports and forestall misuse of SEZs. Steps should beryllium taken to support consumers from mislabelled and substandard products by ensuring just commercialized practices to safeguard home processors.

Published - January 11, 2026 02:32 p.m. IST

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