MANDATORY PACKAGING IN JUTE MATERIALS

Recent decision:

• The CCEA approved that 100% of the food grains and 20% of sugar shall be mandatorily packed in diversified jute bags. The decision to pack sugar in diversified jute bags will give an impetus to the diversification of the jute industry.
  
  
• Initially 10 % of the indents of jute bags for packing food-grains would be placed through reverse auction on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal. This will gradually usher in a regime of price discovery.
  
  

Impact:

• The decision will give a fillip to the development of jute sector by ensuring diversification and also boosting and sustaining demand for jute product.
  
  
• This is important considering the fact that nearly 7 lakh workers and several lakh farm families are dependent for their livelihood on the jute sectors.
  
  
• The jute industry is predominantly dependent on Government sector which purchases jute bags of value of more than Rs. 6,500 crore every year for packing foodgrains.
  
  
• The decision will benefit farmers and workers located in the Eastern and North Eastern regions esp. in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.
  
  

Recent Measures by the Government to support the Jute Sector:

• Under the Jute ICARE, the Government has been supporting one lakh jute farmers by disseminating improved agronomic practices to improve the productivity and quality of raw jute.
  
  
• National Jute Board has collaborated with National Institute of Design to setup a Jute Design Cell at Gandhinagar.
  
  
• Government of India has imposed Definitive Anti-Dumping Duty on import of jute goods from Bangladesh and Nepal with effect from 5th January, 2017.
  
  
• To promote transparency in jute sector, Jute SMART, an e-govt initiative was launched in December, 2016, providing an integrated platform for procurement of B-Twill sacking by Government agencies.