Vietnam lifts ban on groundnut shipments from India

New Delhi: Vietnam has lifted a ban on the import of Indian groundnut, after the Southeast Asian country found satisfactory the steps taken by India to make consignments pest-free.

The Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development has informed the Indian government that its Plant Protection Department will issue import permits for groundnuts for January 18, India’s agriculture ministry said.

The ban, announced in April last year, was lifted after a Vietnam delegation visited India in December and inspected local facilities.

"The delegation was satisfied after seeing fumigation facilities, export procedures and the export certification system for export of groundnuts from India," the ministry said in a news release.

Vietnam banned import of groundnuts from India in April due to interceptions of quarantine pests like caryedon serratus and trogoderma granarium in consignments shipped since January 2015.