Although onion figures in the list of 22 items meant for exchange between India and Myanmar as agreed in a bilateral agreement between them on April four, 1995, customs authority posted at "free trade zone" moreh on the Indo-Myanmar border used to charge customs duty at par with other import items.

Following scarcity of vegetable in local market in view of discontinuance of supply from domestic sources, traders in Manipur continued to feed the market with onions through clandestine import of the vegetable.Onion is still sold in Imphal market at around Rs 25 as against reported price of Rs 50 rpt 50 a kg in other parts of the country.

Market sources here claimed that the supply from Myanmar would suffice to meet the market demand of around 500 quintals daily for the entire north-east, including Assam, which is the highest consumer of the vegetable in the region.MorehChamber of Commerce president Tarachand Jain told UNI that the cumbersome procedure of clearance by customs and state government authority as well as the harassment metted out to transporters on the so called check gate should be done away with immediate effect to facilitate smooth transportation of the scarce vegetable.

Meanwhile, the centre expressed confidence that the onion prices in the coming weeks would come down to "resonable levels.""Onion prices at retail outlets have already declined to rs 35 per kilo from the peak level of Rs 60 in Delhi," consumer affairs secretary MM Mukherjee told newspersons, after a high-level meeting of chief secretaries of states and union territories here.Supplies in the Delhi market had improved significantly from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana and Rajasthan and the declining trend in prices is expected to continue, he said and added that the meeting had taken several short-term decisions to augment supply of essential commodities.

The ban on export of onion has beenextended till January 31.Cabinet secretary Prabhat Kumar said despite the government talking steps like a ban on onion export and asking the nafed to import onion, importers were not able to procure more than 500 tonnes from international markets."We have tried to import from Iran and Kazhakistan," he said and added that enough stocks were not available in those markets. As the prices had not come down to a reasonable level, the chief secretaries' meeting has decided to extend the ban on export of onion for another two months, Kumar added.