Published reports on the weekend show global lentil prices are up close to 20 percent, after the Indian government said it was going to reduce the import duty by 20 percent on suppliers like Canada and Australia.
The duty would remain at 30 percent on imports from the US, a direct slap at the White House. The report says the Indian government is reducing the import duties to 10 percent for three months, in part, to increase domestic stocks of pulses. The country is being hit by massive inflation thanks to the ongoing pandemic. The president of Pulse Canada Greg Cherewyk is watching all of this unfolding, but they still have a few questions before getting too excited.
"What we know is that the Indian Ministry of Finance published a notification that stated that India's import duty on lentils from all origins, except the US, will be reduced from 30 to 10 percent," comments Cherewyk. "The challenge for us right now is that the wording in that notification isn't clear."
They are hoping that the reduction may take place immediately and apply to goods that arrive before August 31, or after. The group is just waiting on clarification from the Indian government. The government is trying to increase the income of their domestic farmers and becoming self sufficient in pulse production. The issue they are dealing with is food inflation due to the increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a difficult balance they are working with as they want to promote domestic production but keep prices on pulse grains fair for their population, according to Cherewyk.
For many years, India was Canada's best customer when it came to crops like lentils and chickpeas.
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