Sri Lankan pepper no threat to Indian pepper

Pepper exports to India are not breaking the Indo-Lanka free trade pact or destabilising Indian production, say pepper producers in Sri Lanka.

Pepper exports to India are not breaking the Indo-Lanka free trade pact or destabilising Indian production, say pepper producers in Sri Lanka. “The Indian trade delegation from Delhi that was here in August were not able to pinpoint any discrepancy in pepper exports,” said Mr Gulam Chatoor, Chairman of the Pepper sub-council, Spices and Allied Products Producers Association (SAPPTA).

The local spice traders are trying to counter arguments by their Indian counterparts that Sri Lankan pepper, getting into India under FTA concessions, is destabilising the domestic industry.

In fact spice traders in India want duty barriers re-erected or a cap on pepper exports from Sri Lanka to protect the domestic industry.

Sri Lankan exporters agree that tariffs reducing to zero, from 70 percent over the last three years, boosted exports to India, but maintain there is no trade diversion.

“We can understand India’s concern that pepper originating in other countries could be re-exported to India under