India in talks with Vietnam on corn, soymeal rejection

Feb 10 (Reuters) - India is in talks with Vietnam to resolve a row after the Southeast Asian nation rejected corn and soymeal cargoes because of an infestation of Khapra beetles, India's trade minister said on Thursday.

"Vietnam is a very special friend of India and of course these matters are discussed," Anand Sharma told reporters. "The concerned officials would be talking." New Delhi has stopped corn and soymeal exports to Vietnam after Hanoi rejected cargoes totalling 50,000 tonnes over the past two weeks. The Hanoi-based Plant Protection Department identified the beetle aboard as 'Trogoderma granarium everts', it said in a letter sent to its Indian counterpart.

Traders from both countries have said Vietnam could be forced to turn to more expensive south American supplies, pushing up prices in Asia when leading economies there are battling inflation.

Indian trade and industry officials say other corn and soymeal importers have not raised any concern about the quality.

India's share in the estimated 90 million tonnes global corn trade is small, but Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam often seek prompt shipments for feed use from South Asian nations.

India exports around 3 million tonnes of soymeal annually.

Feb 10^th, 2011

Source: reuters.com