India extends crop fumigation exemption until end-December

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India has extended an exemption by six months for crop cargoes to be fumigated with methyl bromide, the gas once used as a pesticide but now banned in most parts of the world, the government said in a statement.

The country's plant quarantine authority had earlier said that after June 30 India would only accept cargoes fumigated with methyl bromide at the country of origin, threatening to disrupt supplies of pulses from Canada and wheat from Europe and the Black Sea region.

Now, for the next six months, India would accept cargoes without being fumigated with methyl bromide at the country of origin, the statement said.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Sunil Nair)