India targets Nigerian soybeans in suspected tariff-evasion scheme

Indian customs authorities are investigating a surge in soybean imports labelled as coming from Niger, on suspicion that the cargoes actually originated in neighbouring Nigeria and were mislabelled to avoid import duties, Reuters reported on Monday. The news agency cited unnamed sources and a customs letter it had seen.

The discrepancy is stark. According to Indian trade ministry data cited by Reuters, Niger was India’s largest declared supplier of soybeans in the first seven months of this year, even though it produces no significant quantity of the crop.

Assessments within Africa’s soybean milling industry put Niger’s annual soybean output at less than 100 metric tons. Yet India recorded 380,868 tons of soybeans from Niger between January and July, compared with none in the same period a year earlier. Nigeria, by contrast, is Africa’s largest soybean producer and exporter.

The incentive to mislabel is large. India allows duty-free imports from countries classified as least developed, a group that includes Niger but not Nigeria. If investigators conclude that the shipments were wrongly declared, importers could be liable for India’s full 45 percent tariff.

In notices sent to importers and seen by Reuters, Indian customs officials said the volumes appeared to exceed Niger’s usual production and export capacity.

Geography makes the declared trade route plausible on paper, which may explain how the shipments passed. Niger is landlocked, so its exports can legitimately travel through Nigeria to reach the sea.

Investigators are now asking importers for documents proving the soybeans were transported from Niger, including transit permits.

Importers say they acted in good faith. One who received a customs notice told Reuters that the company bought the cargoes after suppliers assured it they came from Niger and supplied all the required paperwork.

The investigation has already disrupted trade. Indian companies have stopped placing new orders for soybeans declared as Niger-origin since the probe began. Cargoes already at port or in transit could be held up, because neither importers nor exporters are willing to absorb the 45 percent duty.

The case comes as India leans heavily on foreign soybeans after poor weather hurt its own harvest. The country imported a record 909,606 tons in the first seven months of 2026, up from 1,996 tons a year earlier.

For Nigeria, the probe could bring tighter scrutiny of the origin paperwork on soybean shipments leaving West Africa. That would affect a crop the country has been trying to expand as a source of export earnings.

Neither the Nigerian government nor its export promotion agency has commented publicly on the investigation.