The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday banned production, storage, distribution and sale of halal certified products in the state with immediate effect.

 

However, export products have been kept out of the purview of this ban.

 

Anita Singh, commissioner and additional chief secretary, Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA), Uttar Pradesh, issued a notification in this context on Saturday.

 

The ban is a sequel to an FIR being registered at Hazratganj police station in the state capital against four organizations, production companies, their owners and managers as well as other unidentified people for unnecessarily extorting money in the name of halal certification and promoting enmity in the name of religion and also funding different anti-national, separatist and terror organizations. Those made accused in the FIR include Halal India Pvt Ltd of Chennai, Jamiat Ulama Hind Halal Trust of Delhi, Halal Counselling of India and Jamiat Ulama of Mumbai, Maharashtra as well as some unidentified people.

 

'Strict legal action will be taken against an individual or firm engaged in the production, storage, distribution, buying and selling of halal certified medicines, medical devices and cosmetics within Uttar Pradesh,' said the state government.

 

'The halal certification is operating as a parallel system and it creates confusion regarding food quality, violating government rules in this regard,' it said.

 

The government has taken a serious note of products such as dairy items, sugar, bakery products, peppermint oil, beverages, edible oils, some medicines, medical devices and cosmetic products being labelled with halal certificates.

 

'The state government has banned production, storage, distribution and sale of halal certified products in the state with immediate effect. Only export products will be exempted from this ban,' said FSDA commissioner Anita Singh.

 

Elaborating on the issue, Singh said: 'Earlier, halal certification was only confined to meat products. But today all types of products like oil, sugar, toothpaste and spices are being issued halal certificates.'

 

The state government pointed out that all acts related with certification of food products were scrapped and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was introduced as the sole body to issue certificates for edible products.

 

'Except the FSSAI, no agency or body can issue certificates to products. Earlier, halal certificates were confined to meat products. But today they are being issued to all kinds of products such as toothpaste, sugar and oil to name a few,' said Singh.

 

What is halal certification

 

Halal certification is a guarantee that the product is prepared in accordance with Islamic law and is unadulterated. In India, the halal certificate is issued by a third party body unlike in Arab countries where a magistrate grants the halal certificate.

 

However, in India, government run institutions like the FSSAI and the ISI are authorised to certify food products.

 

Halal certified products

 

Products of renowned companies are carrying halal certificate.

 

According to the state government, sweets and namkeen, food products, cold drinks, juices, ice creams, cosmetics, food grains, medical products and other items are being halal certified.

 

Legal opinion

 

Senior advocate, Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court Prashant Chandra said

 

ban on halal certified products was absolutely legal.

 

Every consumable food item, be it meat, poultry, packaged food and medication required certification only by expert agencies of the government, he said.

 

Any other agency undertaking certification in the name of ‘halal certification’ must be banned as it also had the ill effect of creating a divide between Muslims and non-Muslims and corroding the basic structure of the Indian Constitution which is secular in nature, he said.

 

Halal certification had the effect of compulsorily roping in non-Muslims to use only such products which had been approved by halal certification agencies, as over a period of time, any product not having halal certification was not marketable, Chandra said, adding that over the past three decades, since the concept was introduced, it was confined to meat sold by Muslim butchers in England. Gradually, it spread across the globe and practically every food item had now been brought within the dragnet of halal. Thus, a multi trillion dollar industry of halal certification had been created.

 

Petition in SC seeks ban on halal certification

 

Advocate Vibhor Anand had filed a petition in the Supreme Court in April 2022, seeking a complete ban on halal products and halal certification, claiming that fundamental rights of 85% citizens were being infringed upon for the sake of a mere 15% population which used these products.

 

The petitioner had sought withdrawal of all halal-certified products from the market by the multinational companies

 

Halal certification was first introduced in 1974 for slaughtered meat and was applied only to meat products till 1993. Subsequently, halal certification was extended to even food items, cosmetics, medicines, hospitals, housing societies and malls. It includes snacks, sweets, grains, oils, cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, nail polish, and lipsticks among other things.

 

Campaign against halal certification

 

The Hindu Janajagriti Samiti has been carrying out campaigns for the past several years against halal certification.

 

Members of the organisation have given representation to several ministers of the Yogi Adityanath government since 2017 seeking ban on halal certification.

 

Vishwanath Kulkarni, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar coordinator of the organisation, said: 'Halal certification is completely illegal. It must be banned across the country. No law permits certification to food products by private agencies.'

 

Opposition reaction

 

'India is the biggest meat exporter to the world and most of this export is to Muslim countries. This export is of around Rs.1.25 lakh crore. Muslim countries only want halal certified meat and such certificates are issued by religious bodies. Out of the top 20 meat exporters, 18 are non-Muslims. If halal certification is banned, it will cause revenue loss to the country. However, if the government goes ahead with this ban, then the Samajwadi Party will have no objection,' said Ameeq Jamai, spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party.

 

What IIA says

 

'Industry will abide by the state government’s decision. Whatever loss traders will face will be confined to packaging of goods,' said Neeraj Singhal, national president, Indian Industries Association, an industry lobby body of MSMEs.

 

According to the IIA, three per cent production cost of any product is its packaging cost.

 

'We do not have any data related with production of halal certified products,' said Singhal.

While African cuisine is renowned for its diversity, one staple manages to unify dinner tables across the continent – rice.

 

Rice has become the single most important source of dietary energy in West Africa and the third most important for Africa as a whole. The staple is grown in about 40 out of 54 countries in Africa and rice cultivation is the principal activity and source of income for more than 35 million smallholder rice farmers in Africa.

 

However, its demand is growing faster because of population growth, urbanization and changes in consumer preferences. So while the continent boasts a wealth of fertile land and agricultural potential, the capacity to meet the burgeoning demand for rice is increasingly strained. The result is a growing reliance on importation to bridge the gap between production and consumption.

 

Africa has continued to import as much as 12.6 million tons (MT) of milled rice with a huge rice import bill of about US$ 5.5 billion annually.

 

According to the latest Rice Outlook report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), global rice trade in 2024 is projected at 52.85 million tons (milled basis), up 345,000 tons from the previous forecast.

 

And on the 2024 import side, import forecasts are raised for some African countries including Burkina Faso, and Nigeria.

 

Here are 5 African countries projected for high rice imports in 2024:

Rank	Country	Current forecast (1,000 metric tons)	Explanation for forecast
1	Nigeria	2100	Import forecast is raised based on stronger-than-expected demand for imported rice due to both high prices for domestic rice and quality concerns.
2	Ghana	800	Raised the import forecast based on stronger-than-expected purchases from top-supplier Vietnam.
3	Mozambique	700	Import forecast is raised to a near-record-high based on stronger-than-expected purchases from top-supplier India.
4	Burkinafaso	525	Raised the import forecast based on a smaller 2022/23 production estimate and resulting tighter supplies
5	Sierra Leone	450	Import forecast is reduced based on a slower-than-expected pace of purchases from India, the largest supplier of rice to Sierra Leone.

The United Kingdom is set to bring the 'largest-ever' delegation to the seventh edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), scheduled to be held here on November 21-22, an official notification said. A 55-member delegation from a wide range of businesses and institutions will represent the UK at BGBS in Kolkata, the British Deputy High Commision said.

 

'I am looking forward to leading the UK's largest ever delegation to the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata... I hope the summit will help British businesses to expand here and that companies from Bengal can enhance their footprint in the UK,' Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said.

 

The companies that will be a part of the delegation include tech firms such as Teknobuilt, AirNode, SmartViz, Xworks Tech, Hy-Met Limited, Cambridge Carbon Capture and GreenEnco as well as older engineering companies such as Mott Macdonald, an official told PTI.

 

'The UK-India 2030 Roadmap agreed by our prime ministers promised to transform trade and investment between the UK and India. That's what we are here to do,' said Dr Andrew Fleming, British Deputy High Commissioner to East and Northeast India.

 

In the 2022 edition of the BGBS - the state's annual marquee event to woo investors from across the globe - 49 senior figures were in attendance from the UK, the British Deputy High Commision said.

 

A meeting on Measures Taken and Action Plan for improving India's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking was held under the chairpersonship of Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, MoCI on Friday with the nodal officers of the LPI dedicated cell formed in eleven Stakeholder Ministries/Departments.

 

The dedicated cell meets every fortnight to assess the measures taken and outcomes achieved in improving performance across six parameters of LPI including (i) Customs., (ii) Infrastructure (iii) Ease of arranging shipments (iv) Quality of logistics services (v) Tracking and Tracing and (vi) Timeliness.

 

SmtSumitaDawra, Special Secretary (Logistics) DPIIT, during her opening remarks, highlighted that the targeted action plan is important to improve the logistics efficiency of the country and thereby India’s ranking in the World Bank LPI. She added that the measures taken by the stakeholder Ministries/ Departments will be showcased to the World Bank LPI team.

 

During the meeting, Ministries/ Departments presented the action plan, and best practices were showcased.

 

Mr. VivekVerma, Secretary, of the Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), highlighted thatLPAI has implemented a Land Port Management System (LPMS) to digitiseoperations and facilitate a secure electronic flow of information between all stakeholders at the Integrated check posts (ICPs). The system is reducing the dwell time of cross-border movements (trade and passenger), enhancing the efficiency of customs and border management clearance, and improving the timely delivery of shipments.  He added that LPAI has been successful in reducing the dwell time from 57 days to less than 24 hours.

 

Mr. Manoj Gangeya, ED (Planning), Ministry of Railways, stated about various initiatives that MoR is planning across six parameters of LPI. This includes 100% electrification of railway tracks, increasing CAPEX to INR 2.6 lakh crore in FY24 to improve the speed and volume of freight transport in the country, and the implementation of Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors is likely to increase the average speed of freight trains, thereby by reducing transit time and inventory cost to customers. Additionally, the development of rail containerisationat ports and freight terminals is expected to increase the rail container loading from 80 million MT recorded last year to 3 times by FY31.  MoR is also checking the feasibility of railway siding at Land Ports to promote multi-modal connectivity.

 

Mr. Ajay Kumar, CEO, AAICLAS highlighted the airport capacity building which is being undertaken at Kolkata with a target to construct an upgraded/new facility by December 2025. An air cargo village in an area of 37 acres approx. in Delhi (Jewar airport) is also being planned with an investment of 1200Cr which is likely to be commissioned by Dec 2024.

 

Mr. Rituraj Mishra, Deputy Secretary (Ports) presented the various initiatives that have been planned to improve logistics efficiency. Some of them include the automation of weighbridges, improving scanning facilities at the ports, increasing DPD/ DPE share to 80% by rail, and streamlining and simplifying processes by creating Standard Operating Procedures (SoPS) across all the ports.

 

Mr. R. Ananth, Director, CBIC highlighted that a Custom Revenue Control Laboratories (CRCL) will be launched in Guwahati by December 23 which will assist in field formations in chemical analysis of samples of various trade commodities.

 

In her closing remarks, the Special Secretary added that these initiatives with a targeted intervention will improve logistics efficiency in the country. Further, the good practices by Ministries will help in impressing the idea of objective-based assessment in LPI calculation to the World Bank. In this regards, she suggested:

 

Ministries/Departments including CBIC, MoCA, MoRTH, MoR, and MoPSW to share the initiatives, best practices, and interventions planned to address the gap/ issues pertaining to Ministries in the form of an action plan with a timeline in coordination with User Ministries (Coal, Steel, DGFT) and NICDC

 

A systematic approach needs to be followed to communicate the initiatives and good practices of Ministries/ Departments to the stakeholders which will improve the perception of the logistics sector in India

 

The eleven Stakeholder Ministries/Departmentsincludes Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), M/o Civil Aviation, M/o Railways, M/o Port Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), M/o Coal, M/o Civil Aviation (MOCA), CBIC, M/o Steel, and, D/o Commerce, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and, National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC).

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has said that the Global South countries need to discuss ways to make supply chains open, secure, trusted and equitable.

 

'With respect to the Global South, the first need is to identify global value chains, where each of the countries could focus on not only increasing their participation but also improving the quality of their participation by moving up the value chain,' Goyal said at the second Voice of Global South Summit. He said this will help them to partake in the largest share of high value-added parts of the GVCs.

 

This is key as the Covid-19 crisis, the impact of climate change and raging geopolitical tensions have disrupted and underscored the fragility of global supply chains.

 

On the importance of increasing the digitalisation of trade documents, Goyal said it is seen that irrespective of digitalisation, documents critical for international trade are still not digitalised.

 

Goyal also met US President Joe Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation welcome reception on Thursday in San Francisco. 'It was an honour meeting @POTUS at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) welcome reception yesterday,' the minister said in a post on social networking platform X. He also met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the APEC Leaders' Meeting 2023.

In an ambitious move, the Uttar Pradesh government is set to harness its extensive network of rivers for cost-effective passenger and cargo transportation, eyeing merchandise exports of Rs 3 trillion within the next two-three years.

 

Currently, Uttar Pradesh boasts a dozen waterways in major rivers such as the Ganga, Yamuna, Saryu, Betwa, and Chambal, out of the 111 inland waterways in India.

 

Experts suggest that leveraging inland waterway terminals, directly linked to seaports and dry ports, could significantly reduce transportation costs, playing a pivotal role in boosting exports of both perishable and non-perishable items.

 

The operational Varanasi-Haldia inland waterway, managed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), is already in place, with the Yogi Adityanath government aiming to maximise cargo movement through inland waterways.

 

This strategic approach is intended to bolster the export of agricultural and dairy products, along with items from micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

 

As part of this vision, the state is actively exploring the development and redevelopment of additional waterways to facilitate cost-effective intrastate and interstate transportation.

 

The government is also in the process of establishing the UP Inland Waterways Authority, tasked with catalysing cargo and passenger movement, as well as promoting water sports and tourism, reports Business Standard.

 

'The authority will play a pivotal role in promoting water transport and trade, offering a viable medium to export the state’s products to other states and countries,' stated UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

 

The proposed authority, to be headed by the UP transport minister with domain experts as members, is slated to be presented before the state legislature in the upcoming Assembly session starting on 28 November.

 

Inland Waterways Cargo In India

 

In a broader context, inland waterways cargo movement in India has witnessed a substantial increase from 16 million tonnes (MT) in 2016 to 109 MT in 2021-22.

 

Despite the lower operational costs compared to train and road transport, inland waterways are also considered ecologically sustainable.

 

In alignment with these initiatives, Uttar Pradesh has allocated Rs 55,000 crore for investments in transportation infrastructure projects, including roads, expressways, and metro rails for the fiscal year 2023-24.

 

This substantial investment aligns with the state's ambitious goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2027.

Among India’s top 10 export destinations, the Netherlands, the UK and Australia drove shipments during the first seven months (April-October) of the financial year 2023-24, while exports to most other countries remained in negative territory, according to preliminary data released by the commerce ministry.

Shipments to China remain muted with 0.8 growth during the same period.

 

India’s overall exports registered positive growth in August (3.8 per cent) and October (6.2 per cent), with the commerce department claiming this to be a sign of a turnaround. However, exports during the April-October period contracted by 7 per cent.  

Experts attributed the growth in exports in October to a favourable base a year ago as shipments fell sequentially from 34.5 billion in September to 33.6 billion in October.

Last month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) more than halved its growth projection for world merchandise trade volume for 2023 to 0.8 per cent compared to the 1.7 per cent forecast in April due to a continued slump in goods trade.

The world trade body, however, marginally increased its forecast for goods trade for 2024 to 3.3 per cent from 3.2 per cent estimated earlier.

While disaggregated figures for October are not available, data for the April-September period shows Indian exports to Australia were driven by petroleum products ($2.8 billion) and medicines for retail sale ($188 mn).

 

Shipments to the UK during the April-September period were propelled by petroleum products ($743 mn), smartphones ($494 mn), medicines for retail sale ($261 mn) and turbo jets ($211 mn).

Since the Netherlands is a key trans-shipment hub for the European Union, the European nation has been a key importer of petroleum products ($5.6 billion) from India since the Russia-Ukraine war. Other key export items to the Netherlands included smartphones ($484 mn), medicines for retail sale ($161.5 mn) and aluminum ($159 mn).

While in April shipments contracted to seven out of top 10 export destinations of India except for the Netherlands, the UK and Saudi Arabia, exports shrank only to Singapore in October, with double-digit export growth to the USA, the UAE, the Netherlands, China, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Australia.

 

India’s imports contracted 8.9 per cent in April-October period though inward shipments shot up 12.3 per cent in October led by a near doubling of gold imports.

During the April-October period, only imports from Russia and the Netherlands saw positive growth due to India’s dependence on crude oil and gold respectively on these two countries.

Consul General of Australia on Wednesday visited Karnataka Higher Education Council in Bengaluru and proposed their interest in establishing Western Sydney University’s (WSU) campus dedicated to agricultural science in the city.

 

A meeting regarding the same was held between Karnataka higher education minister Dr MC Sudhakar, Consul General of Australia Hilary McGeachy and other officials of the council.

 

Earlier, The Indian Express had reported that Western Sydney University, which is ranked 375th globally, is poised to become the third Australian university to set up a campus in India, following the footsteps of Deakin University and the University of Wollongong. In an interview with The Indian Express, Australian Education Minister Jason Clare had said that WSU is keen on establishing its independent campus in Bengaluru by 2025.

 

A statement from the higher education department said WSU is positioned to create strong academic alliances in the field of agricultural science and expand their global presence.

 

McGeachy expressed her interest to foster collaboration between educational institutions in Australia and Karnataka. his collaboration would primarily focus on fostering a fruitful partnership in academic and research activities.

 

She also mentioned that WSU is keen on establishing a campus dedicated to agricultural science in Bengaluru. However, the higher education minister mentioned that in order to establish a campus, universities are to take approvals from apex bodies like UGC and AICTE. The minister also briefed about the twinning programs between Athens University and the Department of Technical Education. He also asked the delegation to consider such twinning and research activities to start with for academic collaborations.

In a significant step towards further enhancing the user experience and accessibility, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has launched the Food Safety Compliance System (FoSCoS), portal in multiple regional languages. The portal is now available in Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, apart from Hindi and English, with plans to launch the portal in Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, Assamese, Bengali and Odia soon.

 

The latest advancement aims to enhance the user experience for local food businesses, allowing them to easily connect with the FSSAI's online compliance portal FoSCoS. This effort is envisioned to empower a wider range of users, fostering increased participation and enhancing overall compliance within the food ecosystem.

 

FoSCoS, launched nationwide in the year 2020, has rapidly evolved into a pivotal platform for food businesses and regulatory authorities, streamlining all compliance-related activities. The system has played a pivotal role in the digital transformation of various food safety processes, simplifying adherence to regulatory norms for food businesses nationwide.

 

On the occasion of Hindi Diwas observed on September 14, 2023, FSSAI marked the occasion with the launch of the FoSCoS portal in Hindi.

 

FSSAI believes that the linguistic diversity of the portal will further establish FoSCoS as an essential tool in the regulatory landscape, promoting a safer and more compliant food ecosystem nationwide.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal, interacted with Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists (VCs) of Indian origin on the third day of his US visit. During the interaction, the Union Minister encouraged the participants to share their ideas to make India a better investment avenue for investors from around the world. The Minister also shared his vision for Indian startup ecosystem and urged the entrepreneurs and VCs present to contribute and help India’s young talent working in critical and emerging technological areas such as Artificial Intelligence.

 

Thereafter, Shri Goyal participated in a roundtable discussion with prominent academicians at Stanford University, where members of various universities, including Stanford, UC Berkeley, Fresno State, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, and University of Silicon Andhra, deliberated on various relevant global issues. The roundtable saw an active exchange of ideas on how India can collaborate and set up joint-campuses with foreign universities, institutions like Stanford.

 

He also participated in the event “Charting New Horizons: CAs as Catalysts in the US-India Partnership” which was hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI) San Francisco Chapter. The event consisted of an interactive session with members of ICAI where the Minister emphasised on the role that CAs can play in enhancing the collaboration between India and US.

 

In the later part of the day, Shri Goyal held one-to-one meetings with Mr. Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO Micron Technology and Mr. Neil Mohan, CEO YouTube Inc. As part of these bilateral meetings, the Minister discussed prospects of these companies with respect to their India presence and offered his support in their expansion to Indian markets. In his discussion with Micron, the Minister highlighted how India’s growing semiconductor ecosystem presents vast opportunities for companies to collaborate & expand their businesses. While discussing with Mr. Neil Mohan, the Minister emphasised on how India’s potential lies in its thriving digital ecosystem, growing content space, and young & diverse demography.

 

To conclude the day’s engagements, the Union Minister participated in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) welcome reception for leaders of APEC and guest economies, including India. The reception was hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. APEC membership includes Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Philippines; the Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America; and Vietnam.