Pulses players in India have raised concerns about the government's directives on the compliance of Methyl Bromide (MBR) fumigation for imported pulses, which is feared to block a large quantity of pulses import into the country.

India's pulses import for the year 2016-17 was estimated at 5 million tonnes, which is marginally higher by 0.2 million tonnes from last year.

Expressing its objection to the directive, the India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) has represented to the top authorities including the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Agriculture Ministry and Ministry of Consumer Affairs and demanded an interim extension of the deadline for compliance on the MBR directive.

Besides the extension of the deadline by one year from the current March 31, IPGA, in its recommendations submitted on March 1, stated that since a lot of exporting countries use Aluminium Phosphine as fumigant, all consignments should be tested for quarantine pests. "If the cargo is found to be free of quarantine pests, then the NOC should be given without any further MGR fumigation." It also seeks to

"Pulses such as masoor, chana arrive from countries like Australia, Canada, Ukraine and Africa. They use other methods of fumigation than MBR. This is a rigid stand and hurting our imports," said Suresh Agarwal from Rika GLobal Impex, a leading pulses player.

A decision on the issue is likely in a week's time. To take cognizance of the impact of the issue on all stakeholders, IPGA had recently organized a forum, with the aim of creating a platform for the Trade and Agriculture Counselors of countries exporting agri-commodities to India to directly interact with senior PQ Department officials and understand the way forward.

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