Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay updated the media Thursday on his recent trip to India.

MacAuley was in Saskatoon attending the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) annual convention.

He says he had good discussions with officials there regarding India’s call that Canada now fumigate pulse crops before they leave our country. Currently they are fumigated on arrival in India.

The product used is methyl bromide, which doesn’t work well in cold temperatures and is currently being phased out of use.

"It's obvious they do want the top quality pulses and my department has been working with them for a number of months and I have had good meetings with them and it's certainly obvious they want the product but this is what you seem to go through," MacAulay said. "What we want is to not have to go through this every six months and hopefully that's what we can resolve."

MacAulay notes they're trying to find a long-term solution, adding he doubts if that agreement will be reached by the March 31st deadline set by India.