Finally, guar gum traders have heaved a sigh of relief following reports that the European Union is likely to lift the ban on guar gum imports from India.

Exporters in India are hopeful that the EU would soon lift the ban, which was imposed last month.

Reason for the optimism is that tests conducted in EU labs on guar gum samples from 100 in-bound shipments showed no sign of toxins.

A team of experts the from EU were to visit India on September 3 to test the samples for traces of toxins. The visit had been cancelled after examining the samples in the EU labs.

The tests have not found any traces of dioxin and pentachlorophenol in any of the samples, said Gujarat Guar Gum Manufacturers' Association.

The team was invited by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) in reply to a notification issued by the European Commission (EC) after traces of toxins were found in some of the food items made using guar gum exported from India. The EU countries import about 20,000 tonnes of guar gum from India each year.

Many companies of the nine EU countries had recalled batches of food additives containing guar gum exported by an Indian company.

Reports coming from the EU nations suggest that the ban is likely to be lifted within a month.