AsemconnectVietnam - Groundnut contributes nearly five per cent in India’s overall agri trade registered with the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda).

Following a similar ban, which was imposed by Vietnam in 2015, trade officials from India and Vietnam mutually agreed to a standard operating practice (SOP) under which units registered with the plant quarantine (PQ) department were made eligible for exports of groundnut from India. Presumably, these units comply with the hygiene and other sanitary requirements.

After a stringent quality specification was set in place between the officials of two countries, the authority in Vietnam opened up its market in January 2016.

The shipment of Indian groundnut started only after all precautions were put in place under the strict monitoring of the plant quarantine department of Vietnam. Interestingly, no complaints were registered by the Vietnamese buyers on quality or any issues. Still, Vietnam imposed the ban on its import from India,” said Sanjiv Sawla, chairman, Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council (IOPEPC).

The prohibition assumes significance which may spill over to other countries as well.

With a mere 18,418 tonnes ($20 million) imports, Vietnam has slipped to the sixth rank in 2015-16 in terms of import of groundnut from India from the first rank in 2014-15. Vietnam had imported 183,771 tonnes of groundnut worth $202 million, followed by Indonesia 183,355 tonnes ($191 million) in 2014-15.

Indonesia restored its first rank with 173,966 tonnes ($201.55 million) in 2015-16, followed by Malaysia with 72,211 tonnes ($89.37 million), Thailand’s 63,048 tonnes ($74.41 million), Philippines 50,699 tonnes ($60.90 million) and Pakistan with import quantity of 34,403 tonnes ($28.73 million), data compiled by the Apeda.

The trade has no previous warnings of this ban and we find it to be drastic and arbitrary in nature. The only saving grace is that Vietnam has allowed a 60-day window for contracts, which are in pipeline. With this prohibition in place, Vietnam may look other agri products coming from India more suspiciously. More important, it sends a wrong signal to the international groundnut trade and the world about India’s image as quality supplier of peanuts,” Sawla added.

India exports groundnut to the tune of around 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes every year worth ($500 million – $700 million). India’s groundnut exports jumped by a staggering 29.58 per cent between April 2016 and January 2017.

Source: Reuters.com