Chinese Walnuts Being Imported as Afghan Goods

20-Feb-2026 04:14 PM

Mumbai. Indian Customs officials have seized a container ship carrying nuts at Mumbai's Nhava Sheva Port, suspected of carrying Chinese walnuts disguised as Afghan goods. It is believed that misleading information has been provided about these nuts. Since walnuts imported from Afghanistan are exempt from customs duty under the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), importers are claiming Chinese walnuts to be of Afghan origin to take advantage of this privilege.

The ship, WIB Reyfa, which has been detained at Nhava Sheva Port, flies the Comoros flag and is carrying at least 46 containers. Reports suggest that these containers contain Chinese walnuts, which are being misrepresented as Afghan walnuts. Initially, these were believed to be Iranian walnuts.

The ship carries a total of 310 containers. It is being claimed that the ship departed from Bandar Abbas port in Iran with cargo, but was detained by customs officials upon arriving at an Indian port. The ship has been docked at Nhava Sheva port for the past two weeks, and the documents presented for the cargo are being examined. It is believed that importers could be able to save approximately ₹500 million in customs duty based on these documents. Interestingly, no importer has yet come forward to identify the consignment.

According to official sources, the entire ship has been held up because of these 46 containers. Surprisingly, all the walnut boxes came from China, and the exporters did not change the Chinese language description on the packages. This type of incident has been occurring for several years. Walnuts imported from the United States and Chile are often labeled as Afghan in order to receive duty exemptions.