A burgeoning market for nuts in India is beckoning the Australians, among the biggest growers of nuts in the world. India has largely kept them at bay, but the potential has proved too vast for the Australians to hold off their almonds, pistachios, and walnuts.

The nut industry in Australia is now pinning its hopes on the proposed India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to gain faster and deeper market access in India through higher duty cuts and the removal of quotas.

“With rising economic conditions, the Indian middle class is driving greater consumption of nuts. The Indian CECA provides the Australian nut industries the opportunity to diversify our export markets and hedge for any complications with our major market, China,” says a representation made by the Australian Nut Industry Council (ANIC) to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

As part of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement ratified at the end of December 2022, India agreed to eliminate tariffs on macadamias, cashews in-shell, shelled pistachios, and hazelnuts over a period of six years and reduce tariffs by half for almonds subject to a quota of 34,000 tonnes.

Also read: Australia to ask India for tariff cuts on more farm products in CECA talks

‘Not enough’

But the Australian industry says it is not enough. They are pushing their agenda even more now that both sides are working on the full-fledged CECA, which could include previously excluded areas.

“India has no almond production. It cannot claim any sensitivity for almonds, so it is difficult to understand why any tariff should apply to Australian almonds or why there should be a quota,” their representation to CECA noted.

They questioned India’s decision to exclude pistachio in shell from the ECTA on grounds of “sensitivity” from producers in Kashmir and Jammu. There isn’t any evidence of an Indian pistachio industry in Kashmir or Jammu other than a few trees mainly in old research stations, they argued. 

“In the next decade, Australia could not supply India with more than a few thousand tonnes per annum of pistachio inshell, compared with current Indian imports of more than 15,000 tonnes per annum. The few thousand tonnes will have a trivial impact on total Indian demand but will be of critical importance to the expanding Australian pistachio industry,” they said.

Conceding that India did have a long-established walnut growing industry, largely located in Kashmir and Jammu, the ANIC argued that production was being overstated by growers at 60,000 tonne per annum in shell, while other sources estimated production at 30,000–36,000 tonne. “Australia has limited production of the sweeter-flavored Chandler variety (preferred by many Indian consumers over the older varieties grown in Kashmir/Jammu) and has a strong Australian demand, limiting the potential exports to India to below a number that could have any impact on Kashmiri sales,” it said.

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