Traders want food grain out of APMC Act ambit

PUNE: Traders' unions on Sunday demanded exclusion of food grain like wheat, rice, jowar and cereals from the ambit of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act. Traders also sought the adoption of a single-point mechanism to charge cess on commodities in place of the current multiple cess system.

The demands were raised at a state-level meeting of traders conducted at the Poona Merchants' Chamber called to discuss various issues faced by traders. Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Walchand Sancheti, president of the Poona Merchants' Chamber, said, "Prices of commodities go up owing to multiple cess system. When other states have already adopted a single-point cess system to restrict double taxation, the state government is persisting with the old system. The government has continued with multiple cess mechanism which is neither beneficial to the farmer nor to the consumer."

Sancheti said the government has already initiated steps to decontrol fruits and vegetables. "We want the government to exclude food grain from the APMC Act. Processed commodities such as rice, edible oil, powders, sugar, tea, flour, besan and dry fruits should be excluded," he said. He added that the traders will soon discuss the memorandum of demands with the government.

Vice-president of the Poona Merchants' Chamber, Praveen Chorbele, said that more than 125 traders from the state had participated in the meeting. He said, "Besides exclusion of food grain from the APMC Act, we will urge the government to introduce some changes in the Food Safety and Standards Act. We want the government to impose a reasonable fine under various provisions."

Meanwhile, traders have demanded abolition of the Local Body Tax (LBT). Chorbele said there has been considerable increase in the VAT. There is no need to impose LBT on commodities if the government has registered significant growth in VAT collection.

We will also urge the government to introduce some changes in the Food Safety and Standards Act. We want the government to impose a reasonable fine under various provisions