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New Delhi, July 10 On a day when the Centre gave the State Trading Corporation of India (STC) the go-ahead to import 5.11 lakh tonnes (lt) of wheat at an average $ 325.59 a tonne, the US stepped up its criticism of India’s “unrealistic” phytosanitary requirements and “overly stringent” weed seed standards for imports.

“India’s current (wheat import) standards translate into higher bread and flour prices for (its) consumers. The prices offered to India in the most recent import tender are significantly greater than recent purchase prices by other wheat importing nations,” a US Embassy statement released here on Tuesday said.

The statement claimed that India’s very low weed seed standard was nearly impossible for any global exporter to meet, “raising questions about the reliability of India’s import inspection process”.

The existing quality and phytosanitary norms have resulted in not a single grain of US-origin being offered in any of STC’s imported tenders floated since last year. Even in the latest tender, the entire contracted quantity of 5.11 lt was mainly of Canadian and Russian origin.

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Centre to pay $326 a tonne for 5.11 lt of imported wheat

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