India and the UK are 'very close' to achieving a mutually beneficial free trade agreement (FTA) but the aspects left to agree on are the toughest ones, Britain's Business and Trade Secretary in charge of the negotiations has told a parliamentary panel. Kemi Badenoch was answering questions posed by the cross-party House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, which scrutinises the work of the Department of Business and Trade (DBT), on Tuesday when she was asked about the timeline for signing off on the FTA - which has completed 12 rounds of negotiations.

 

The Cabinet minister was specifically asked about some UK media reports suggesting that cricket fan British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may be planning a return visit to India next month to sign the deal on the sidelines of the World Cup being hosted across the country.

 

'We have never set a deadline. I think this is a very optimistic briefing for newspapers,' responded Badenoch.

 

'We are very close. It is possible, but I wouldn't be setting that sort of deadline. We will finish when we finish,' she said.

 

Referencing former British prime minister Boris Johnson setting a Diwali 2022 deadline for an agreement, Badenoch reiterated the Sunak-led government's approach of not setting any end dates.

 

'We had the same thing last year, where they said we're going to have a deal by Diwali. Once you set a date, you create problems on your own side. We have always been very, very specific that it's about the deal, not the day. And, we will get there when we have a deal that is mutually beneficial for India and for the UK. We've done quite a lot, so it is close,' she said.

 

'It's the Pareto principle, that the few bits left are always the toughest bits,' she added.

 

The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 principle, is named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto and is a phenomenon that states that roughly 80 per cent of outcomes come from 20 per cent of causes.

 

Badenoch reviewed progress with her Indian counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, during a visit to India last month coinciding with Round 12 of the FTA negotiations.

 

Sunak's visit to New Delhi for the G20 Leaders' Summit earlier this month also concluded with a commitment to an FTA, with the British Indian leader telling reporters that he 'won't rush things'.

 

Meanwhile, amid a diplomatic standoff between two of its allies -- India and Canada -- over the contentious issue of pro-Khalistan extremism, Sunak's spokesperson at Downing Street reiterated this week that trade talks with New Delhi remain on track.

 

'Work on the trade negotiations will continue as before... when we have concerns with countries we're negotiating trade deals with, we'll raise them directly,' the spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday.

 

According to official DBT figures, UK-India bilateral trade was worth an estimated GBP 36 billion in 2022 -- a figure expected to be significantly boosted with an FTA.

The initiatives included a portal for comprehensive data on financial services offered to farmers, a campaign to cover all beneficiaries of the PM Kisan cash-transfer programme under the Kisan credit card scheme and an integrated agricultural weather portal

 

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday called for full digitisation of all rural regional banks and expansion of credit to farmers while launching three new initiatives to strengthen access of cultivators to financial services.

 

At an event at Pusa complex, which was also attended by agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Sitharaman launched the Kisan Rin Portal, unveiled a campaign to cover all beneficiaries of the PM Kisan cash-transfer programme under the Kisan credit card scheme and an integrated agricultural weather portal.

 

The Kisan Rin Portal, developed in collaboration with multiple government departments, is a digital platform that will offer comprehensive data on financial services offered to farmers, including information on loan disbursement, interest subvention claims and utilization, which will be integrated with banks for efficient disbursal of agriculture credit.

 

'We must remember that even during the Covid lockdown period, it was the agricultural community, the farming community and the rural community that kept us going. With whatever precaution farmers could take, they ensured that the nation’s food security did not suffer and agricultural growth helped the economy,' the finance minister said.

 

Sitharaman, in her speech, asked the secretary of the department of financial services Vivek Joshi, who also attended the event, to ensure full cooperation of all banks of the country in providing data and information to the Kisan Rin Portal.

 

The finance minister also called upon the department, which comes under her ministry, to ensure speedy digitisation of rural regional banks and improve credit disbursal by cooperative banks.

 

'When I look at data of sanction and disbursal of credit to farmers of scheduled commercial banks and cooperative banks, one sees a lack of correlation. I want the disbursal rate of credit of cooperative banks to farmers go up,' Sitharaman said.

 

The finance minister said after the creation of a separate ministry for cooperation, a massive project for digitisation of the sector was currently on. She commended the agriculture minister for coming up with a Kisan Rin portal within four months of its conception.

 

The agriculture minister said 'under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and with the generosity of the finance minister, the budgetary allocation to agriculture ministry had gone up several time to Rs.1.41 lakh crore'.

 

Launching the Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyaan to achieve universal financial inclusion of farmers by end of December, the finance minister said there was 'no shortage of money for farmers' but called upon officials to robustly implement all agricultural schemes.

 

Sitharaman also launched WINDS or Weather Information Network Data Systems, which will serve as a one-stop online platform for all information related to agricultural meteorology.

Kenya has kick-started the export of avocado fruit to India this month and the first shipment has already arrived. 'The first shipment has arrived at Mumbai. We assure that many many more metric tonnes of avocados will land,' Kenya Deputy High Commissioner to India Irene Oloo told PTI on the sidelines of the launch event here.

 

This is the first 'sensitive and short self life' agro-commodity the African country has got permission to export. It took eight years of negotiations to get permission on August 16, 2023, she said.

 

Kenya exports tea and coffee which have a much longer shelf than avocado fruit. It took a long time to get approval as 'we needed to meet the strict Indian quality standards when it lands here,' she said.

 

This will help open up access to other various fruits, flowers and vegetables, she added.

 

Oloo hoped that the start of imports of Kenyan avocados would help narrow the trade imbalance between the two countries.

 

In 2022, the value of Kenyan imports from India was USD 1.76 billion, while Kenyan exports to India were valued at USD 67.21 million, she said.

 

Deputy Secretary of the External Affairs Ministry Swadha Rizvi was also present at the event.

 

Kenya is the world's sixth largest avocado producer with a cultivated area of nearly 26,000 hectares and a production of 4,16,000 tonnes in 2021, double that of 2016.

 

Kenya exports about 23 per cent of the production of avocados to countries like the Netherlands, the US, China, Spain, the UK, the UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt among others.

Romania would look to extend a trade ban on Ukrainian grain for 30 days if import requests rise, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday after a European Commission-endorsed ban of imports into Ukraine’s five neighbours expired last week.

 

Romania is one of five eastern EU countries alongside Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia that saw a surge of Ukrainian grain imports after the start of the war, which distorted local markets and prompted protests from farmers, leading the EU to approve trade restrictions - while still allowing transit - until Sept. 15.

 

Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced their own unilateral bans on Friday. Romania has not acted separately yet.

 

Ciolacu said Romania had not seen requests to import grain from Ukraine since Friday and did not want a repeat of the situation earlier this year that impacted Romanian farmers.

 

'The Ukrainian prime minister promised to send the export licensing proposal today, which we will discuss,' Ciolacu said.

 

'If there will be export requests to Romania I will ask the agriculture and economy ministers to draft an order extending the ban for a period of 30 days until things are clarified.'

 

The Bulgarian parliament voted to lift its ban on Ukrainian grains last week.

 

The EU Commission said Ukraine agreed to introduce any legal measures including an export licensing system within 30 days to avoid grain surges.

 

The countries of central and east Europe have been some of Kyiv’s strongest allies in its fight against Russia’s invasion since February 2022, but grain exports have been an area of friction.

 

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday countries should refrain from unilateral measures against imports of Ukrainian grain.

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the EU’s decision not to further extend the ban on grain exports, but said on Friday his government would react 'in civilised fashion' if EU member states broke EU rules.

 

Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta is Ukraine’s biggest route out for grains.

The Assam Government and Quality Council of India (QCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve the food safety ecosystem in the state.

 

According to reports, the MoU aims to create quality infrastructure through conformity assessment framework based on training and capacity building of stakeholders.

 

According to the state officials, the MoU marks an important milestone towards achieving excellence in quality in food safety of food products in the state. The MoU will help in quality certification, accreditation, and training which will ensure quality products and services for the consumers along with development of food safety related infrastructure in the state of Assam.

 

The QCI in a statement added that it will work with the Assam Government to nurture a quality culture in the state which will help in developing the accreditation system and even advising the state government and other stakeholders on matters related to quality in the food safety ecosystem.

The government on Friday launched an unified portal for agri-statistics (UPAg) that will empower stakeholders to access credible and objective data for taking informed decisions. The UPAg, developed by the Ministry of Agriculture, is a crucial component of digital public infrastructure for agriculture.

 

The portal aims to address the data related governance challenges such as lack of standardised and verified data, which make it difficult for policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders to make informed decisions.

 

After launching the portal, think tank Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand said it is a groundbreaking move to address the complex governance challenges facing Indian agriculture.

 

'This innovative platform, designed to streamline and enhance data management in the agricultural domain, marks a significant step towards a more efficient and responsive agricultural policy framework,' he said in a statement.

 

He also stated that higher the objectivity of data, lower is the scope of judgment in policy making, which translated into stable, transparent and informed decisions.

 

Stating that the portal should ensure data credibility, Chand said a research suggests that one US dollar invested in data generated USD 32 impact.

 

Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said UPAg Portal was being envisaged as a public good wherein users will benefit by reduced search costs and access to credible, granular and objective data.

 

The UPAg portal will have key features such as 'data standardisation', 'data analysis', 'granular production estimates', 'commodity profile reports', and 'plug and play'.

 

The portal will standardise data on prices, production, area, yield, and trade, making it accessible in one location, eliminating the need to compile data from multiple sources.

 

It will perform advanced analytics, offering insights such as production trends, trade correlations, and consumption patterns, aiding policymakers in making informed decisions.

 

The portal will generate granular production estimates with increased frequency, enhancing the government's ability to respond to agricultural crises swiftly.

 

It will also produce commodity profile reports using algorithms, minimizing subjectivity and providing users with comprehensive insights.

 

That apart, users will have the flexibility to use the portal's data to prepare their own reports, promoting data-driven decision-making, the statement said.

 

According to the ministry, this initiative aligns with the principles of e-governance, bringing smartness, transparency, and agility to India's agriculture sector.

 

Malaysia will talk to the Indian government to find a 'best solution' over the South Asian country's rice export restrictions, Malaysia's agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu said on Monday.

State-run Malaysian rice importer Bernas will also be negotiating with other suppliers like Vietnam, Thailand And Cambodia, he said.

 

The government will integrate 28 new wholesale mandis (market yards) with the online trading platform eNAM, taking the total count to 1,389 in the country, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja said on Tuesday. At present, 1,361 regulated mandis in 23 states and four Union Territories are linked with the electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM), launched on April 26.

 

'To further strengthen e-NAM, 28 new mandis were approved recently for integration to take the total count of mandis to 1389,' Ahuja said at a workshop here on eNAM 2.0.

 

He also emphasised on the importance of providing key information to the stakeholders of e-NAM at the right time.

 

'It is important to remove information asymmetry,' he said.

 

Ahuja further said the information pertaining to quality of produce is as vital to the buyer, as the prices of commodities are vital to sellers.

 

'From an economic perspective, the whole value chain must be made efficient and wastage must be reduced,' he said.

 

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Additional Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, said e-NAM 2.0 will be an advanced version of the existing e-NAM, wherein the reforms in the State Acts will be very important in the success of e-NAM 2.0.

 

Three farmer producer organizations, Churchu Nari Urja FPCL (Jharkhand), Maangani City Consortium (Tamil Nadu) and Jaivik Shri FPCL, Koraput (Odisha), shared their experiences of using the e-NAM platform.

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has introduced a new standard, BS 8636 for whisky manufacturers calling it the world's first-ever standard for whisky, setting a new benchmark for quality in the alcoholic beverage industry.

 

India, which emerged as the largest Scotch whisky market by volume in 2022, with 242 million cases sold, relies heavily on whisky, accounting for nearly two-thirds of its $53 billion alcoholic beverage sales.

 

Theuns Kotze, managing director, Assurance, BSI India, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, in a reply to FnB News, stated that BSI's BS 8636 standard is poised to streamline and fortify India's whisky value chain, making the process more efficient and dependable.

 

'BS 8636:2023, Whisky uses analytical parameters and methods of analysis. While specification is a voluntary British standard designed to support distillers to produce whisky for local and global markets, the specification sets out the production process to help ensure a trusted supply chain for the main categories of whisky traded globally,' said Kotze.

 

Meanwhile, the notable requirements set by the standard include a minimum three-year maturation in wooden casks, a 40% minimum alcohol strength, and avoidance of sweeteners and additives to maintain the whisky's natural aroma and taste.

 

'Today, consumers in different markets expect whisky to be made from cereals, distilled in a certain way, aged for a minimum period in wooden casks, and sold at a strength not less than 40% alc. vol. This ensures whisky retains the colour, aroma and taste derived from its raw materials and production process,' said Kotze.

 

Under these standards, distillation is mandated to be conducted at less than 94.8% volume, preserving the raw materials' distinct qualities. Additionally, the standard offers guidance on packaging, particularly regarding product labelling. It addresses situations where animal products were used in other alcoholic beverages stored in the casks before whisky maturation helping consumers to make informed choices.

 

Kotze further said that the British standard has been developed by the consensus of whisky and industry experts in the UK and Ireland. Standards (whether national or ISO international) do not supersede local legislation but are designed to provide a best practice approach to help businesses should they wish to use a standard.

India’s soyabean carryforward stocks for oil year 2023-24 starting October are seen at a record 32.26 lakh tonnes(lt), an increase of 28 per cent over same period last year. This is mainly on account of higher than expected imports and increased domestic output despite higher export of soyabean meal, according to the Soyabean Processors Association of India (SOPA).

 

The oil year 2022-23 started with high carryforward stocks of 25.15 lt (1.83 lt in the same period previous year), while the domestic crop during the year was estimated at 124.11 lt (118.89 lt). Imports during the year were revised at 7 lt (5.55 lt).

 

Total market arrivals of soyabean during Oct 22-Aug 23 were estimated at 112 lt (88 lt) and the crushing during this period was 100 lt (77 lt). Excluding the direct use and exports, the stocks with the plants, traders and farmers as on September 1 stood at 38.70 lt (32.17 lt), SOPA said. 'Looking at the soyabean import scenario, we have revised upwards the soybean import for oil year 2022-2023 to 7 lt from 5.5 lt. Due to good demand of the soyabean meal in the export and domestic market, we have revised upward the export of soya meal to 18 lt from 17.5 lt. The domestic consumption in food is estimated to be higher at 8 lt from 7.5 lt and domestic consumption in feed is pegged higher at 61 lt from 60 lt. Resulting which, we have increased soyabean crushing to 106.50 lt from 105 lt,' DN Pathak, Executive Director, SOPA said.

 

Delayed arrival

SOPA had recently said the arrival of the new crop was likely to be delayed by about a fortnight on account of delayed and erratic rainfall pattern witnessed during the sowing season. The crop condition is normal after the recent widespread rains in most part of the growing regions in the country, it said.