April 16 (Bloomberg) -- China is still processing requests for permits to ship in soybean oil from Argentina, Yao Jian, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said, rejecting reports new application procedures had effectively banned shipments.

China will improve management of the system for importing the commodity from Argentina and the two nations could resolve the dispute, said Yao, who made the remarks yesterday according to a transcript of a news conference on the ministry’s Web site.

The comments came after four executives familiar with the decision said last week that China stopped approving permits to import soybean oil from Argentina, as a trade rift widened with the largest global supplier.

The central government assumed full control of Argentine soybean oil imports from the provinces from April 1. The move was in response to Argentina’s anti-dumping investigations on Chinese goods ranging from steel pipes to textiles, according to a Chinese state-backed trade group.

Still, many Argentine soybean oil exporters will be able to meet China’s new stringent import regulations and other crushers are evaluating the costs to altering their processing to meet the standards, China National Grain & Oils Information Center said today in an e-mailed statement, citing an unidentified Argentine official.