China suspends Indian oilmeal imports

China has suspended imports of oilmeal from India after it found contamination of a hazardous chemical in rapeseed meal last year, an Indian trade body said, potentially hitting India's overall exports of the animal feedstock. "For the time being, China has suspended imports of oilmeals from India," B.V. Mehta, executive director at the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA), told Reuters on Monday.
The restrictions, which took effect on January 1, are also likely to hit India's total oilmeal exports, the association said. China buys about 500,000 tonnes of oilmeal from India annually, with rapeseed accounting for more than 70 percent of the total, Mehta said.
China said in June last year that it had found traces of malachite green, a hazardous chemical, in shipments from India and Malaysia. "This is a very serious development which will affect the exports of oilmeals badly since China is a big market for India," the association said in a statement.