The Canadian trade delegation visiting New Delhi this week will look for a speedy resolution to the problem its pulses exporters are likely to face from April this year when the permission to fumigate consignments at Indian ports expires.
Canada has urged that India should expedite a solution to the problem as the fumigant, methyl bromide (MBR), prescribed by India to kill quarantine pests is being phased out by the country and does not work well in its cold temperatures, a government official told BusinessLine .
“Canadian International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who will hold talks with Indian Ministers, including Nirmala Sitharaman, on Friday, is likely to discuss pulses as a priority area. He would want a resolution much before the end of the month,” the official said.
Officials from the Plant Quarantine department in India had indicated earlier this year that the decade-old facility of allowing imported pulse cargo from about 20 exporting countries, including Canada and Australia, to be treated with MBR on arrival at the Indian port will not be extended beyond March 31.
“Canada and India are in talks to explore possible solutions as imports from the country could stop from next month in the absence of alternatives,” the official said. New Delhi is open to allowing the use of other fumigants, but the exporting country has to submit enough data to prove their efficacy, he added. Canada exported peas and lentils worth $1.5 billion to India in 2017, according to industry figures.
Limited extension possible“If a mutually acceptable solution is not reached soon, the facility for fumigation at Indian ports could be extended for a limited period,” the official said.
Most developed nations do not allow use of MBR in their countries as the chemical is harmful to the ozone layer. Since India has been heavily dependent on imports to meet its pulses demand, it has been allowing fumigation at its ports.
“Now that production of pulses has increased in the country, India can afford to stop the fumigation process for imports at its ports and save its portion of the ozone layer. But countries like Canada and Australia want India to come up with an alternative,” the official said.
So far, Canada had been arguing that the risk of its pulses being infected by pests is low because of the cold climatic conditions in the country and the fact that pests cannot survive in low temperatures.
India, however, has directly rejected the possibility of buying untreated pulses.
“It is not possible for India to allow untreated Canadian pulses to be sold to its consumers. Fumigation has to happen. What chemical is used for it is a matter under debate,” the official said.
India is likely to harvest a record 22.1 million tonnes of pulses in the 2016-17 crop year (July-June) compared to 16.4 million tonnes last year. Domestic demand is about 23-24 MT. India imported about 6 million tonnes of pulses last year.