But now the government has come up with a new strategy to force millers to exhaust local wheat before opting for imports. The new rule compels millers to exhaust their allocated local quotas to qualify for an import licence for duty free wheat. “We have a new system in place that requires millers to buy all locally produced wheat before we issue them with an import licence,” said Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett. Mr Bett said that when millers seek the wheat import licence from the Treasury, their request is referred to the Ministry of Agriculture to confirm whether they have met the condition of buying their portion of local wheat. The low international cost of the produce has seen millers import huge volumes of the cereal in recent months.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 15, 2017 18:05 UTC