Shimla, Jan. 31 -- To address the concerns of Himachal Pradesh over reduction of import duty on apples, the Centre had constituted a committee and now a joint team comprising central and state representatives would assess the impact.

The state government will soon send a team of officers and orchardists from Himachal Pradesh, after which the Union government will examine and discuss all aspects of the matter.

The committee was constituted by the Centre after chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on January 16, called on Union minister for commerce and industries Piyush Goyal at New Delhi and strongly pleaded for banning apple imports during the apple production months, July to November. He also urged for increasing apple duty to 100% in...