These food items are brought into the country illegally at a higher price, they say.

At the Fort wholesale markt, the price of a kilo of Cowpea which was around Rs. 300 - 400 before the ban, is now at Rs. 600. Meanwhile, current wholesale prices of a kilo of Mung, Urad and Finger Millet have increased to Rs. 750, Rs. 1,600 and Rs. 600 respectively.

It is said that those who imported potatoes, big onions and dried chillies in the recent past have secreted these goods in their produce containers.

It is said that around 15 - 20 MT of food items facing import bans have been smuggled during recent times and subsequently seized by the Customs.

Importers have been ordered to return these illegally imported food items back to the countries where they were imported from.