INDIA'S Spices Board is making moves to halt the illegal entry of cardamom into the country. The board has alerted the commissioners of customs at major ports to take action against illegal imports through land-locked and border countries, such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Although the imports are officially estimated at a mere 200 tonnes, Indian traders believe that more could have entered the domestic market illegally. Faiyaz Hudani, senior analyst at Kotak Commodity Services, said that debate over the actual volume was largely immaterial as there was no official data collected. He told The Public Ledger: Any kind of smuggling will impact the domestic market, leading to higher imports and higher availability, which in turn would lead to lower prices. Anything which is hampering the domestic market is not good for the Indian market... Read More