India has temporarily suspended the entry of coffee beans, bamboo, black pepper, cinnamon, cassia and dragon fruit from Vietnam due to “repeated interception of quarantine pests”.
NPPO, Vietnam has been requested not to issue phyto-sanitary certificates for these six commodities for export to India.
The decision comes after Vietnam announced that it would suspend import of peanuts, cassia seed, cocoa beans, haricot beans and tamarind from India after 60 days, starting March 1.
According to Vietnam, the decision was taken following the discovery of live insects in about 3,000 tonnes of peanuts, 24 tonnes of cassia alata seeds bought from India last year and earlier this year.
All the five products are claimed to have been contaminated with the insect Caryedon serratus Olivier, commonly known as peanut beetle, which is subject to Vietnam’s plant quarantine.
The trade balance is greatly in India’s favour with the country exporting goods worth $5.26 billion to Vietnam in 2015-16 compared to imports worth $2.5 billion from the country.
A significant part of the Indian imports of black pepper has been from Vietnam this year. India imported 10,399 tonnes, registering an increase of 33.82 per cent over the previous year and became the third-biggest importer.
Indian imports of Cassia in 2015-16 stood at 19,405 tonnes valued at ₹242.22 crore. Imports of other spices, including cinnamon, during the period stood at 11,135 tonnes valued at ₹517.71 crore.
Vietnam had earlier suspended imports of peanuts from India in April 2015. The ban was lifted in January 2016 after a Vietnamese delegation visited India and inspected fumigation facilities, export procedures and export certification systems.
