For want of a clear government policy on trade with Myanmar, onion and some other agricultural produces were being smuggled into Moreh in India which had been declared a free trade zone, he pointed out.

Talking to UNI here on Thursday Jain alleged that taking advantage of the situation, a section of customs officials, state government officials of various concerned departments and extortionists were regularly accepting bribes from traders.

Had the government allowed legal import of onion and other agricultural produces from Myanmar the revenue earnings of the government would have increased substantially, he said.

Jain pointed out that onion figured in the list of 22 items, which the governments of Myanmar and India agreed to exchangethrough a bilateral trade agreement on April 4, 1995 and hence a simple administrative decision would pave the way for import of onion via Moreh by road, he added.

In Moreh onion is sold at Rs 15 per kg in the retail market while the wholesale price fluctuated between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,200 per quintal.

In Imphal the retail price is almost double although the distance between the two towns is a little over 100 km. Jain attributed the difference in prices between the originating place and the consumer point to extortions by government officials and anti-socials during transportation.

Once the barrier on import of onion was removed, supply from Moreh would not only be able to meet the demands of Manipur and Nagaland but also of Assam, the biggest consumer of the vegetable in the northeast, he observed.

Jain called upon the chief ministers of all northeastern states to initiate a common move to press the centre to remove trade barrier with Myanmar, particularly the ban on import of onion, keeping in viewthe present situation.