Amid a sharp rise in instances of hair smuggling to China that has squeezed raw material supplies for Indian exporters of hair products, the government on Tuesday put restrictions on the export of human hair.
Earlier, hair exports were allowed without any restriction. As per the new norms , now an exporter would have to seek permission or licence from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce to ship hair outside India.
Last year, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence busted a scam involving Chinese nationals in exporting human hairs from Bengaluru to China via Myanmar. Bangladesh has now emerged as the new transit hub for human hair smugglers. While high quality locks go for anywhere between Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 15,000 per kg, the lower quality human hair 'waste' starts at a comparatively measly Rs. 4 per kg. In a notification, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi on Tuesday said, the export policy of human hair, unworked, whether or not washed or scoured; waste of human hair or any other form of raw human hair...Has been put under restricted category, with immediate effect.
The hair export market in India is worth Rs 6,000-8000 crore — 5 percent of the hair comes from donations at temples and rest through collection of comb waste across villages. China, Hong Kong, Brazil and Italy are among the top five markets for India, when it comes to human hair exports.
It is used for making wigs, false beards, eyebrows, extensions and also in extraction of a protein used in the baking industry. It’s used to make calligraphy brushes, wig making, cloth making,soy sauce, suit linings, and furniture. It’s enlisted to clean up oil spills. It’s even a part of the bagel-making process at Dunkin’ Donuts.
A large chunk of the hair exported comes from the ritual of hair tonsuring at the famous Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh where thousands of devotees offer their hair to Lord Venkateshwara every day. It is estimated that over a ton of hair is collected at the temple on a daily basis.
Welcoming the move, member of Human Hair and Hair Products Manufacturers and Exporters Association of India Sunil Eamani said that it was their long-pending demand. "Now with this restriction, only genuine exporters will be able to export the product," he said.