New Delhi | Reuters — India’s ban on the trade of cattle for slaughter threatens US$4 billion in annual beef exports and millions of jobs if the government does not revoke the stoppage decreed last week, according to two industry officials. In the latest setback to the Muslim-dominated meat industry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government […] Read more

India cattle trade ban to halt beef exports

India keeps Canadian lentil market at standstill
CNS Canada — Lentil prices are largely stagnant, one market participant says, as key buyer India sits on the sidelines. And from the outside, stocks appear ample, but new-crop production could shift the dynamic of Canada’s lentil market. Statistics Canada stocks data as of March 31, 2017 pegged lentil supplies at about 1.1 million tonnes, […] Read more

Reprieve granted in India pulse fumigation dispute
The federal government has negotiated a short reprieve in the ongoing dispute with India over its reluctance to receive pulse imports that have not been fumigated with methyl bromide after March 31. In a statement issued Thursday, Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade announced pulse exports […] Read more

Indian regulator warns on Agrium-PotashCorp merger
New Delhi | Reuters — India’s competition regulator said the proposed merger between Agrium and PotashCorp was likely to hurt competition, a government statement said Wednesday. The two Canadian fertilizer producers agreed to merge last September to navigate a severe industry slump by boosting efficiency and cutting costs. Neither Agrium nor PotashCorp have physical presence […] Read more

Pulse firm AGT sees resolution of India-Canada trade snag
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s AGT Food and Ingredients, one of the world’s biggest exporters of peas and lentils, expects India to extend an exemption for Canada within days from a crop fumigation policy that threatened to jeopardize $1.1 billion in annual trade of the food staples, CEO Murad Al-Katib said Tuesday. India’s current exemption […] Read more

Pulse sector roiled by India’s fumigation edict
Science says our pulses are safe — but industry officials are preparing a Plan B if India won’t back down
Reading Time: 4 minutes The clock is ticking on whether Indian officials will reverse an edict requiring Canadian pulse shipments to be fumigated at the port of origin rather than at their destination. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and a delegation from Pulse Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were in India at the beginning of March to […] Read more

India considering reinstating wheat import tax
New Delhi | Reuters –– India could impose a 25 per cent import tax on wheat by the middle of March, two government sources said on Wednesday, reinstating the tariff after a gap of nearly three months in response to recent large purchases from overseas. India, the world’s second-biggest wheat producer, lowered the import tax […] Read more

Pulse crop sales to India dry up over pest-control plan
Winnipeg/Mumbai | Reuters –– Canadian exporters are slowing sales of peas and lentils to India, threatening $1.1 billion in annual trade of the food staples, over risk that New Delhi may reject shipments under its tougher approach to pest control. India requires shippers to fumigate crops with methyl bromide, an insect-killing gas, in the country […] Read more

Lack of buyer interest leaves lentil market without pulse
CNS Canada — Lentil buyers are keeping to the sidelines as mixed weather reports from India bring an element of turbulence into the market. Crop conditions in India are generally favourable, keeping Canada’s old- and new-crop lentil markets quiet, said Bobby Leavins of Rayglen Commodities in Saskatoon. New-crop buyers are showing little interest until India’s […] Read more

Canada keen to boost ties, seal trade pact with India
Gandhinagar, India | Reuters –– Canada is keen to boost its business ties with India and is moving forward with attempts to seal a trade pact, Canada’s minister of infrastructure and communities told Reuters. “There is an emphasis on signing a trade agreement with India,” Amarjeet Sohi said in an interview Tuesday. “The process was […] Read more