Lok Sabha Question No. 128 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-05
Subject: New Rubber Policy
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 128 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05 th  MARCH,2018

## NEW RUBBER POLICY

- *128.  ADV. JOICE GEORGE:

## SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी ) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is planning a new Rubber Policy which will ensure remunerative prices for natural rubber and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has prepared draft of the proposal and invited comments thereon and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has recently conducted any meeting in this regard;
- (d) if so, the details thereof indicating the venue of the meeting, the number of participants and discussions held therein; and
- (e) whether the proposed new Rubber policy is likely to address the price fall issues faced by the rubber farmers and if so, the details thereof along with the steps being considered to ensure Minimum Support Price for Rubber thereunder?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=h ¼ Jh lqjs'k izHkq ½

## THE MINISTER OF  COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI SURESH PRABHU)

- a) to  e):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 128  FOR ANSWER ON 05 th  MARCH,2018 REGARDING 'NEW RUBBER POLICY'.

- (a) to  (d):    A  Stakeholders  Meeting  was  held  on  11 th February,  2018  at  Rubber  Board, Kottayam  presided  over  by  Hon'ble  Minister  of  State  for  Tourism  for  discussing several  issues  pertaining  to  the  Natural  Rubber  (NR)  Sector.  Two  Members  of Parliament from Kerala, 2 officials from the Department of Commerce, Representatives  of  16  stakeholder  Associations,  Board  Members  and  officials  of Rubber Board participated in the meeting.  Several issues were discussed which interalia includes, Minimum Support Price for NR, restrictions on import of NR, Minimum Import Price of NR, categorisation of NR as an agricultural product, issue of import of cup  lumps,  safeguard  duty  on  NR  import,  formulation  of  Rubber  policy,  increased budget allocation to the Rubber Board etc.

With a view to address the concerns expressed by various stakeholders in the rubber sector  including  the  formulation  of  National  Policy  on  Rubber,  the  Government  has decided to constitute a Task Force on Rubber comprising representatives of the State and Central Government for finding out short term solutions and formulating long term strategies to tackle the problems faced in rubber sector and the effort will be to work towards a Rubber Policy in consultation with the State Government.

- (e): The Natural Rubber prices are determined by market fundamentals and a range of factors  which  inter-alia  include  trends  in  economic  growth  in  major  consuming countries, oil/synthetic  rubber  prices,  weather conditions and  developments  in future markets.  Domestic  NR  market  generally  follows  the  trends  in  world  market  with occasional  divergences  due  to  region  specific  and  seasonal  factors.  To  regulate  the import of NR, the Government has increased the duty on import of dry rubber from '20% or Rs. 30 per kg whichever is lower' to '25% or Rs. 30 per kg  whichever is lower'  w.e.f  30.4.2015  in  order  to  create  demand  for  locally  produced  rubber.  The Government has also reduced the period of utilization of imported dry rubber under advance licensing scheme from 18 months to 6 months. Director General of Foreign Trade  (DGFT)  has  imposed  port  restriction  on  the  import  of  Natural  Rubber  by restricting the port of entry to Chennai and Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) since 20 th January, 2016.

Moreover,  'Rubber  Production  Incentive  Scheme'  is  under  implementation  in  the major rubber growing State of Kerala for providing financial support to rubber growers under which the difference between the Scheme Reference Price of Rs 150 per kg and the daily market price is credited to the bank account of the farmer directly on the basis of purchase bills.

The  Commission  of  Agricultural  Costs  and  Prices  (CACP)  under  the  Ministry  of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is mandated to recommend Minimum Support Price (MSP) for certain agricultural commodities.  Natural Rubber is currently not under the purview of CACP.

*****