Saskatchewan farmers welcome a temporary reduction in tariffs on lentil exports to India.

Pulse Canada CEO Gordon Bacon says the tariff goes from 33 percent to 11 percent until the end of August.

He says it reflects growing need in India for pulse crops.

Bacon will be asking the Canadian government to push for more clarity around policy changes on tariffs in India.

He says it’s possible there could be an extension of the lentil tariff reduction but it depends on food prices in India.

He says the tariff on U.S. lentils will drop from 55 percent to 33 percent.

He says the tariff on U.S. lentils remains high because of  trade retaliation.

Food inflation is on the rise in India and the Indian government also provided 1 kilogram of free pulses per family during the covid-19 lockdown.

Steep tariffs on pulse imports into India have been in place since November 2017.

In spite of the 30 percent tariff, about 400-thousand tonnes of Canadian lentils have been sold to India in the 2019-20 crop year.
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