Over 80 containers of raw hides and semi-processed skins are stuck at the Chennai port following a notification by the Animal Husbandry Department making sanitary certificates mandatory for imports.
According to leather industry representatives, over the last two weeks the importers-primarily tanners and leather products exporters-have not been able to clear the import consignments from the port.
The 20-ft containers, valued at about Rs 20-25 lakh each depending on the grades of the hides and skins, are awaiting clearance. The demurrage is mounting; the stocks are putrefying in many of the containers that are not refrigerated, say importers.
According to Mr Rafeeque Ahmed, President, All India Skins and Hides Merchants Association, the raw materials have been routinely imported over several decades by the industry. But recently, the Animal Husbandry Department at the Centre decided to demand sanitary certification without any forewarning.
The industry has represented to the Ministry concerned. The authorities have agreed to keep the order in abeyance temporarily, but no action has been taken and the material is stuck in the port.
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