New Delhi, May 17 (IANS): The government has announced some relaxation to its recent order on restrictions of wheat exports.

It has now decided that wherever wheat consignments have been handed over to Customs for examination and have been registered into their systems on or prior to May 13, such consignments would be allowed to be exported.

The government also allowed a wheat shipment headed for Egypt, which was already under loading at the Kandla port.

This followed a request by the Egyptian government to permit the wheat cargo being loaded at the Kandla port.

The Centre had earlier restricted wheat exports to manage the overall food security situation in India and to support the needs of neighbouring and vulnerable countries that are adversely affected by the sudden changes in the global market for wheat and are unable to access adequate wheat supplies.

According to the order, this restriction would not apply in cases where prior commitments have been made by private trade through Letter of Credit as well as in situations where permission is granted by the Government of India to other countries to meet their food security needs and on the requests of their governments.

The order served three main purposes -- ensure India's food security and check inflation, it helps other countries facing food deficit, and it maintains India's reliability as a supplier.

The order also aimed to provide a clear direction to the wheat market to prevent hoarding of wheat supplies.