The decision has been communicated to all customs bureaus across the country in a letter signed by Ali Vakili, the director general of Imports and Free Trade Zone Department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Fars News Agency reported.
Every year, during the rice harvest season, the government bans rice imports in support of domestic farmers and production.
Referring to the rise in prices of local rice varieties and the importance of meeting domestic needs, Abbas Qobadi, deputy minister of industries, mining and trade, underscored the need for allocating subsidized foreign currency to import rice in a letter to the Central Bank of Iran’s Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, according to Financial Tribune.
Iranians consume more than 3 million tons of rice per annum.
“Domestic rice production is expected to reach 2.5 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year [March 19, 2020],” said Director General of the Agriculture Ministry's Grains and Essential Goods Department Faramak Aziz Karimi.
The difference between domestic production and local need is imported from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey and Iraq.