Reacting to the development, Dr B V Mehta, executive director, The Solvent Extractors’ Association of India, said, “This can be a good development which the industry was wanting from long time. Even though the Chinese authorities have dropped the ban, the exports have not yet started. It may take a month or two for the exports to begin as the exporters need to register with Ministry of Agriculture, China, and it is a lengthy process.”
He added, “Before the export starts these plants need to upgrade to ISO 22000 standards and get the approval by Chinese authorities. Later, official from China will visit the plant, give consent and then only the export will start.”
In 2011, China suspended import of rapeseed meal and other agri produce from India with effect from January 1, 2012, based on the complaint about malachite green contamination in rapeseed meal. During 2015-2016, SEA also urged the Chinese authorities to visit the extraction plant to get the first hand information on the seed quality.
He added, “The Chinese authority AQSIQ (now GACC) has approved five units meeting their quality requirement. They need to register with Chinese Ministry of Agriculture for exporting rapeseed meal from India.”
India has a surplus to export half a million tonne of rapeseed meal to China every year, according to Mehta. Also, Indian rapeseed meal is cheaper than the Canadian rapeseed meal (Canola meal), by nearly $30 to 40 per tonne and can re-enter the Chinese market to capture the loss share. Prior to the ban, India use to export 300,000 to 400,000 tonne of rapeseed meal to China. Now, the rise in export demand for rapeseed meal will support the rapeseed farmer to receive better price for his produce.
Meanwhile, China imposed tariffs of 25 percent on a list of American products including soya bean on July 6, in response to US duties on Chinese goods worth a similar amount.
China has now dropped the ban on India (on rapeseed meal) in order to reduce its reliance on the US, its biggest exporter of soya bean. China buys 60 percent of the soya bean traded worldwide, processing it into soya meal to feed its vast pig herds. India is among the many countries that are being favoured by China following its trade war with the US.
