Various nodal agencies have been instructed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to check the import of pepper into country. The authorities have instructed the agencies on possible contamination in pepper coming from Vietnam via Sri-Lanka
Raj Kumar, FSSAI’s joint director (imports), in a note to the various nodal agencies, said, “Authority had received information from the Department of Commerce that Vietnamese pepper, contaminated with high pesticide residue, may be diverted to India via Sri Lanka. He has asked officials to be vigilant about such imports.”
While only eight per cent duty is levied on pepper imports in India from Sri-Lanka, 54 percent is levied on that imported from Vietnam.
Nishant R Gurjer, an executive committee member of The United Planters’ Association of Southern India (Upasi) and a leading pepper planter, said while production had stagnated, domestic demand was growing. Domestic demand was growing at four per cent annually, with the current demand estimated at 60,000 tonnes per annum.
“To utilise this opportunity, cheap pepper is coming from Vietnam through Sri Lanka, with whom India has signed a free trade agreement (FTA). Cheap Vietnamese pepper coming into the system could be sold as Indian pepper”, he added