Importers will now have until Sept. 22 to go through customs clearance, the news portal of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran reported on Saturday. Earlier, Ali Maqouli, the director general of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration’s Imports and Free and Special Economic Zones Affairs Center, announced that rice shipments had until August 11 to go through customs clearance, provided they acquired warehouse receipts or declaration forms before the end of working hours on July 22.
“The import of any such shipment after the deadline will be banned,” he added.
Every year and during the rice harvest season, the government bans rice imports in support of local farmers and domestic production, Financial Tribune reported.
Iranians consume 3.2 million tons of the staple food annually, less than 2 million tons of which are cultivated by local farmers.
India is the biggest exporter of the grain to Iran, followed by Pakistan, Thailand and Uruguay.