China will soon allow in halted shipments of Argentinian soymeal, said a top farm official of the South American nation, adding problems over quality issues appeared to have been resolved.

Chinese quarantine authorities strengthened the inspection of soy cargoes from the United States and Argentina in a possible trade backlash following massive U.S. recalls of toys made in China and changes to trade rules in Argentina.

In August, Buenos Aires implemented tougher customs controls, sanitary rules, price declarations and other restrictions for a range of goods including bicycles, footwear, auto parts and electronics, affecting some Chinese exports.

"China had some problems with the soymeal which was recently exported by Argentina, but I do not think we have any problem now," Fernando Nebbia, undersecretary for agricultural policy, told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.

"According to information I have, China is going to soon allow two shipments of 40,000 tonnes of soymeal from Argentina, which were stopped by it," said Nebbia, in India for an edible oils conference.

China, which has traditionally bought soymeal from the Americas, has recently turned towards India to meet its feedstock demand as the South Asian nation now enjoys a freight advantage as shipping rates have risen.

Trade officials say India is likely to export around one million tonnes of soymeal to China in the season beginning October 2008.

INDIAN FIRMS IN ARGENTINA

Nebbia said Argentina, one of the world's leading soyoil producers, would increase soybean imports from neighbouring countries such as Brazil and Paraguay to take advantage of higher prices of the cooking oil.

"We capitalise on the higher demand for edible oils and are prepared to meet that demand. We will import more soybeans from neighbouring countries to process into soyoil and export," he said."

He said Argentina's total edible oil production was hovering around 8 million tonnes annually, 75 percent of it soyoils.

A number of Indian firms were in talks with Argentina to buy land there for soybean cultivation, he said.

"We have no problems with foreigners coming into the country to buy land. We rather encourage people to develop efficiency in raising soybean output. We are prepared to share our knowledge," Nebbia said.

"Talks are in an advanced stage for the Indian trade to buy up to 12,000 hectares of land in Paraguay to grow oilseeds," said a senior official of the Solvent Extractors' Association of India.

Traders say Indian firms cultivating in Argentina would benefit from the use of genetically modified seeds that have boosted production and which are not permitted in India.

Leading analyst Dorab Mistry last week said India must adopt GM technology to raise oilseed output to reduce dependence on edible oil imports, especially with prices of palm and soy oils on the boil.