Vietnam still rejects 50,000 tons of India corn
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India has urged Vietnam to approve the re-fumigation of over 50,000 tons of corn and soybean found infested. As such, the consignment is being held at the Vietnamese border awaiting re-fumigation but the Vietnamese side is reported to be reluctant.
The Indian side has said it would pay all related costs in cleaning up the cargoes.
Vietnamese authorities earlier rejected cargoes totaling 50,000 tons of corn and soybean meal from India and ordered them re-exported.
"The volume of corn and soymeal found with insects were on two vessels and we have ordered them to be re-exported," a source was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The cargoes have been infected with an insect native in India, known as Khapra beetle.
The Hanoi-based Plant Protection Department identified it as 'Trogoderma granarium everts', it said in a letter sent to the Indian counterpart and seen by Reuters.
The department intercepted a ship with 23,000 tons of Indian corn at the northern port of Haiphong on Jan. 29, the letter said. The beetle was also detected at another ship in Ho Chi Minh City, the plant protection agency source said.
"Earlier, Vietnam had allowed re-fumigation and then a cargo with problem could be accepted, so it is seeking the same application with the current cargoes," he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, traders in Ho Chi Minh City said Vietnam may stop the import of around 130,000 tons of corn and soymeal from India due to insect infestation.
Vietnam reluctant to re-fumigate?
According to the Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam (Incham), Vietnamese authorities should approve the re-fumigation of the infected feeds to cut the storage and logistic costs for both sides.
Indian counselor R.Gururaj said the re-fumigation is needed, but the Plant Protection Department and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is yet to approve it.
The Plant Protection Department last month asked the US$25 million shipments to be re-exported to India for fear that even though they are re-fumigated, the pests can also invade the country en masse, thus threatening the country’s agricultural production.
The pest which originated in South Asia, is one of the world’s most destructive pests of grain products and seeds and is considered one of the 100 worst-invasive species in the world.
The re-export decision, if taking effect, will cause huge losses to both Vietnamese importers and Indian exporters since they have to share the storage and re-export costs, said Incham. The deadline for re-exportation is this Saturday.
The department thought that the re-fumigation of 100,000 tons of animal feeds is out of Vietnam’s capacity, although there have been many high-level meetings between the department and its Indian counterparts during the past months.
But Incham said though the infection rate is “surprisingly high" lately, appropriate re-fumigation, at the cost at some $1 per ton to be paid by Indian firms, will work.
If Vietnamese fumigation firms cannot handle it, their Indian colleagues will do it, Incham added.
To make sure the process work, Incham proposed taking out 10 percent of feeds as sample for the re-fumigation.
India exporters also pledged to enhance the fumigation at Indian ports in the future, not inside Vietnamese territory.
Less than 10 percent of 2.2 million-ton Indian-imported animal feeds to Vietnam is infected with such pests, said Incham.
Vietnam last year found that 27,000 tons of India-imported animals were infected. The figure this year has mounted to 56,000 tons.
Incham will send a letter on the matter to the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Monday, said a recent press briefing in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam is importing around 2.2 million tons of animal feeds worth some $500-600 million annually from India, meeting 25 percent of the country’s demand.
