May 21, 2007

High-Level US, India meeting to cap wheat trade talks

US Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner met Friday (May 18) with P.K. Mishra, head of the Agriculture and Cooperation division of India's Agriculture Ministry, capping two days of technical discussions between the countries on improving conditions for wheat trade, according to USDA officials.

USDA spokesman Keith Williams said the meeting between Conner and Mishra focused on the same wheat issues addressed Wednesday and Thursday by lower-level officials.

The US has long complained that Indian specifications for wheat, particularly a strict near-zero tolerance level for weed seeds, has unfairly kept US exports out of the country's market.

Steve Mercer, a spokesman for the US Wheat Associates, said Friday, "India imported 5.5 million tonnes of wheat last year and none of it was from the United States. The issue remains their tolerances for weed seeds."

USDA officials had been hoping to resolve the issues as early as June last year when USDA Secretary Mike Johanns met with Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath.

"There are already wheat tenders out and more are anticipated," said a USDA official who asked not to be named. "We'd like to have the ability, obviously, to participate in those tenders."

The technical meetings well, though, and there were signs of progress, the USDA official said. "There seems to be some flexibility coming from the Indian side."