India's guar gum exporters are facing discrimination in the Chinese market with the Dragon country allowing duty exemptions to the commodity coming from Pakistan.

Following this, Indian exporters of guar gum powder and guar splits have urged the Central Government to take up the matter with the Chinese authorities concerned.

Shellac and Forest Produce Export Promotion Council (Shefexil) said China's custom tariff on Indian guar gum powder was 15 per cent while it was nil on the commodity coming from Pakistan.

Again, Indian guar splits attract a five per cent import tariff, while Pakistan enjoyed a nil tariff advantage for the same item.

India and Pakistan are the two major processors and exporters of guar gum in the world. Small quantities of the commodity are also being exported by countries like Morocco and Sudan.

According to traders, China also imports guar gum powder and splits of some 25,000-30,000 tonnes annually.

It was not clear whether China had a special bilateral trade agreement with Pakistan, under which such a tariff concession could be easily given.

The council said the existing duty difference was not logical and urged the Indian government to make a reference to Chinese authorities to do away with the duty difference, and take the duty for both guar gum and splits to a uniform five per cent.