India may allow the supply of 20,000 tonnes of refined sugar to Kenya, one of its strategic partners in Africa, overriding an export ban on the sweetener.

 

This will likely be permitted under the advanced authorisation scheme, a government official informed. Under AAS, refineries can import raw sugar and export refined sugar after value addition.

 

India, which surpassed Brazil in the 2021-22 season to become the world’s largest sugar producer and second-largest exporter, imposed export controls in October last year. This was later extended beyond October 2023 considering an expected decline in production.

 

'Although India will have sufficient availability for domestic consumption, there may not be any surplus quantity for exports due to anticipated lower production this year than the previous year,' said the official.

 

'Therefore, it has been suggested that the refineries that import raw sugar and export refined sugar after value addition under AAS, to export the quantity to Kenya.'

 

The external affairs ministry, the commerce and industries ministry, and the food and public distribution department did not immediately reply to queries on the matter.

 

AAS is not restricted under the sugar export policy and no separate permission is required from the government. The scheme allows duty-free import of raw materials that are to be incorporated in products meant for exports. 

 

The official quoted earlier said the ministry of external affairs has recommended exporting 20,000 tonnes of sugar via sea, a more cost-effective route, against Kenya’s request for 500,000 tonnes of the sweetener.

 

India supplies 10,376 tonnes of sugar on average to Kenya each financial year, according to commerce ministry sources. Earlier this month, the government allowed exports of 100,000 tonnes of non-basmati white rice to Kenya and 140,000 tonnes to four other African nations, overriding an existing ban. 

 

India’s sugar production in the 2023-24 season (October-September) is estimated to have dropped to 30-30.5 million tonnes, after diversion for ethanol, against domestic consumption of 27.5-28 mt. The country produced 32.7-32.8 mt of sugar in the year prior.

 

The lower output is due to the El Nino weather condition compromising monsoon rains in August, top-producing states Maharashtra and Karnataka hard. 

 

El Nino is anticipated to strengthen through 2023-24, which could lead to intensification of dry conditions during the next sugar season. This may lead to a further decline in sugar production during the 2024-25 season. 

 

As India nears the crucial general election in a few months, the government has escalated export curbs to stabilise prices amid a significant jump in food inflation. 

 

It recently asked sugar mills to not use cane juice to make ethanol and to ramp up production of sugar to make up for lower anticipated crop following patchy monsoons. Besides sugar, India has placed curbs on wheat, rice and onion exports. 

 

Food inflation, measured by the consumer food price index, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose to 8.70% in November from 6.61% in October and 6.62% in September because of a substantial rise in the prices of vegetables and pulses.

India has exported 26.08 lakh tonnes of basmati rice and 73.18 lakh tonnes of non-basmati rice during the April-October period of this fiscal year.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda shared export data of major foodgrains.

 

As per the data, the exports of basmati rice stood at 45.61 lakh tonnes in the entire 2022-23 financial year while the shipments of non-basmati rice stood at 177.92 lakh tonnes.

Exports of basmati rice stood at 44.15 lakh tonnes in 2018-19; 44.55 lakh tonnes in 2019-20; 46.30 lakh tonnes in 2020-21; and 39.44 lakh tonnes in 2021-22.

 

The data showed that exports of rice (other than basmati) were at 76.48 lakh tonnes in 2018-19; 50.56 lakh tonnes in 2019-20; 131.49 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, and 172.89 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 fiscal.

India's total rice production stood at 1,357.55 lakh tonnes in 2022-23 as against 1,294.71 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

Rice output stood at 1,164.84 lakh tonnes in 2018-19; 1,188.70 lakh tonnes in 2019-20; and 1,243.68 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 fiscal year.

The government has banned exports of broken rice and non-basmati white rice. The export of broken rice was prohibited and an export duty of 20 per cent was imposed on non-basmati white rice on September 9, 2022. Subsequently, the export of non-basmati white rice was also prohibited on July 20, 2023. Pulses Imports

 

India imported 19.63 lakh tonnes of pulses during April-October this fiscal to meet domestic demand, the government said on Tuesday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda informed that pulses imports stood at 24.96 lakh tonnes during 2022-23, 27 lakh tonnes in 2021-22, 24.66 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, 28.98 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 and 25.28 lakh tonnes in 2018-19.

The production of pulses stood at 220.76 lakh tonnes in 2018-19, 230.25 lakh tonnes in 2019-20, 254.63 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, 273.02 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 and 260.58 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.

India imports pulses mainly from Canada and Myanmar.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) delegation led by Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Artieda, and Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Jan Christian Vestre, on Wednesday.

 

'Held a meeting with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) delegation, led by Ms. Helene Budliger Artieda, Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Mr. Jan Christian Vestre, Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry,' the union minister said in a post on 'X'.

 

During the meeting, Goyal discussed the progress of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with EFTA nations and explored avenues to further strengthen partnerships across key sectors.

 

Recently, Piyush Goyal concluded a 'highly successful' meeting with a delegation from the EFTA, led by the Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Artieda.

 

The meeting took place in London from July 11 to July 12. Helene Budliger Artieda was also accompanied by industry stakeholders from the pharmaceutical, machinery and electronics industries of the EFTA states.

 

The deliberations between Minister Piyush Goyal and State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda 'were fruitful and detailed discussions on crucial issues, with the shared goal of swiftly concluding' the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) negotiations, the commerce ministry said in a release.

 

The primary objective of these negotiations is to establish a 'fair, mutually beneficial, and comprehensive' trade deal between India and EFTA.

 

Over the past few months, India and EFTA have significantly intensified their engagement, highlighting the commitment of both parties to achieving an early conclusion to the TEPA negotiations.

 

The commerce ministry's release added that the meeting in London further bolstered this commitment, with both sides demonstrating a strong willingness to progress towards a final agreement.

 

Minister Piyush Goyal expressed his satisfaction with the progress made during the meeting, highlighting the constructive and collaborative nature of the discussions. He emphasised the importance of a comprehensive trade deal that addresses the needs and aspirations of both India and EFTA.

India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) will give a level playing field to Indian textile exporters and boost exports as heavy duties levied by the UK is a challenge for Indian exporters, said Rajeev Saxena, joint secretary, ministry of textiles on Wednesday.

'Indian exporters are facing challenges specially from Europe because they have to pay heavy duties as compared to Bangladesh and Vietnam.

These competing countries have an advantage over India. The India-UK FTA will give a level playing field to Indian exporters and will help exports grow significantly from India,' said Saxena on the sidelines of an event in Indore.

The negotiations over the FTA between India and the UK are still ongoing with the trade segment hoping for a quick signing off on the agreement that will give an easy and greater access to players to each other’s markets.

Saxena was in the city to participate in roadshow for Bharat Tex 2024, the first edition of the global textile expo to be held in New Delhi from February 26-29, 2024 and organised by a consortium of 11 textile export promotion councils and supported by the ministry of textiles with an aim to promote Indian textile industry and showcase the entire value chain of the sector to the world.

'India will aim to achieve $100 billion exports in textiles by 2030 and the growth is expected to come from the sunrise and traditional segment. The traditional India textile sector like handloom and handicraft are very much admired outside India,' said Saxena.

He said, the technical textile is a sunrise sector and a special scheme has been launched by the National Technical Textile Mission to support startups where grants of up to Rs 50 lakh is given to young entrepreneurs.

 

'Technical textiles are high value items and have a lot of potential in India as it covers everything right from infra to health. Much research work is done and prototypes are developed but they are not commercialised. Young entrepreneurs can seek help from the government of India and can develop products and markets in the world,' said Saxena.

He said, Madhya Pradesh is an important destination for textile and considering its importance, the government of India has sanctioned the PM Mitra Park in Dhar.

'PM Mitra Park in Madhya Pradesh will scale up the economy and the entire value chain can be consolidated and logistics cost could be reduced. MP has strength in spinning, manufacturing sector, handlooms, handicraft and has good availability of skilled labourer in textile,' said Saxena.

 

India on Tuesday deferred the mandatory requirement of a certificate of inspection by export inspection agencies for shipping both basmati and non-basmati rice to certain European countries by six more months.

 

Amending an earlier notification, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said that export of rice (basmati and non-basmati) to EU member states and other European countries namely UK, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland 'only' will require certificate of inspection from Export Inspection Council/Export Inspection Agency.

 

On May 29, 2023, the DGFT had announced the move for six months.

 

'Export to remaining European countries will not require a certificate of inspection by the Export Inspection Council (EIC)/Export Inspection Agency for export from the date of this notification for a period of six months,' the DGFT said in a notification Tuesday.

 

EIC is the official export certification body of India which ensures quality and safety of products exported from India.

As per the 2nd advance estimates for 2022-23, the total horticulture production is estimated to be 351.92 Million Tonne, surpassing the total foodgrain production of 329.69 Million Tonne during the year. At present, India is the second largest producer of vegetables and fruits in the world. Country ranks first in the production of number of crops like Banana, Lime & Lemon, Papaya, Okra.

 

The Horticulture production in the country has been steadily increasing over the years due to the proactive policies and initiatives of the Government of India and the State Governments and the improved crop production technologies and management practices.

 

For the holistic development of horticulture, for increasing area, production and creation of post-harvest infrastructure, the Government is implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in the States/UTs since 2014-15. Under MIDH, support for production of quality planting material, area expansion of fruits, vegetables, spices and plantation crops, protected cultivation and creation of post-harvest management infrastructures, training and capacity building etc., of farmers are provided.

 

The project proposals of State Governments for horticulture development are also supported under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

 

The details of State-wise horticulture production in the country during the last ten years are given in Annexure-1

 

The foodgrain production in the Country has recorded a consistent growth during the past years. The total foodgrain production has increased to 329.69 Million Tonne from 252.03 Million Tone in 2014-15. The compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of foodgrain production over the period was 3.41%. The details are given in Annexure-2.

 

The Government of India is implementing National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in the country for increasing production of rice, wheat, coarse cereals, nutri cereals (Shree Anna) and pulses. Under NFSM, assistance is given through State/UT to the farmers for interventions like cluster demonstrations on improved package of practices, demonstrations on cropping system, seed production, and distribution of high yielding varieties (HYVs)/hybrids, improved farm machineries/resource conservation machineries/ tools, efficient water application tools, plant protection measures, nutrient management/ soil ameliorants, processing and post-harvest equipment, cropping system based trainings, etc. The Mission also provided support to Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) for technology back stopping and transfer of technologies to the farmers under supervision of Subject Specialists/ Scientists.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Arjun Munda in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

A Jodhpur-based bakery this year exported millet cakes and cookies to the UAE, Indonesia and South Africa and is seeing strong demand for such gluten-free and vegan-friendly snacks made from locally sourced millets. It is among the 200-odd startups involved in producing millet-based products.

 

From 'mota anaaj (coarse grains)' to Shree Anna, millets have come a long way in India, in not only their branding but also exports. A 37.68% increase in exports to $57.14 million in five years to 2022-23, buckwheat, ragi, jawar, bajra, amaranth and canary seeds have found favour across the world. In the first six months of 2023-24, millet exports touched almost $30 million. In 2021, India was the top millet producer in the world with a 20% share of global production, followed by the US and Nigeria.

 

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has also organised food sampling and tasting campaigns at supermarkets and malls across the world have helped millets gain traction.

 

With 2023 being declared the International Year of Millets, diverse food preparations made from these coarse grains have gained popularity. From salads to dessert, jowar khakhra to bajra cake and bhujia, ragi biscuits and gajak, consumers are now spoilt for choice. There are 500 stock keeping units (SKU) of millet-based food products in the country, according to officials.

 

'The export of food preparation based on millets has increased 15% since last year,' said an official, who did not wish to be identified, adding that a new HS code (tariff classification) for value-added products of millets is being introduced which will help capture the export and import numbers better. Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal mix, biscuits, cookies and snacks, and ready-to-cook mixes such as dosa, idli and khichri are the best-selling export items. In its result update for the second quarter ended September 30, fast-moving consumer goods firm ITC said it has implemented a focused strategy to craft a millet-based product portfolio for every occasion, age and format, and has launched products across traditional and modern formats such as multi-millet mix and ragi flour.

The European Union has come up with a set of proposals to protect its domestic rice players even as it prepares to provide a Geographical Indicator (GI) tag for Indian basmati rice and signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with New Delhi, documents viewed by businessline show.

 

The proposals include repealing regulations for the import of basmati rice, increasing security deposit, electronic invoicing, e-authentication, and online consumer protection. Two major European players who will likely benefit from these are Spanish firm Ebro Foods, which owns the premium basmati rice brand Tilda, and Italian firm Euricom.

 

The proposals have been submitted by the European Commission to the EU Council, and it is expected to be ratified and implemented. One of the proposals is Article 4, which erects a barrier to any new basmati player who has to obtain an import licence after acquiring two years of experience in rice.

 

Preventive clause

European millers mainly import husked basmati rice, and over the past two decades, the European rice milling industry and brands have consolidated. Once basmati rice gets protected GI (PGI) from the EU — the application has been pending since July 2018 — a branded basmati player from India intending to set up a mill to avail of the zero import duty concession will have to wait.

 

This means that if an Indian firm buys a mill in Europe, it will lose its market and margin in view of the two-year mandatory waiting period.

 

Article 5 of the proposed regulation bars transferring import licence among traders. 'Even if an Indian company technically takes over an experienced trading company, its experience is under question. Article 5 is a preventive clause to ensure that Article 4 is not circumvented,' said S Chandrasekaran, a GI expert who has authored the book 'Basmati Rice: The Natural History Geographical Indication.'

 

EU industry fears

The initiative is aimed at protecting European domestic mills and European basmati rice brands. Perhaps, Chandrasekaran said, the European industry fears that leading and famous Indian brands will enter the European Union after the EU signs an FTA with India and PGI for the fragrant rice is registered there. The gestation period is a primary protection for European Basmati players.

 

'The European Commission move is to preserve the status quo of local players and brands in the mainland Europe basmati market.  This signals the serious intent of the European Commission in protecting its domestic interests, which also indicates the gaps and vulnerability,' the GI expert said.

 

Having said that, he said, beneficiaries of this policy bring traces of trans-Atlantic history in terms of trade. 'India needs to prioritise its focus and intent in the FTA and GI agreement with the EU in view of overall national interest instead of mere commercial interests,' Chandrasekaran said.

 

Head note 7 features

The proposals’ history is traced to the 1992 Dunkel pact, when the EU, in a pact with the US, agreed to insert in the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) schedule a special 'Head note 7' for rice, resulting in a ceiling price for imported husked rice.

 

This ceiling for Japonica rice was 188 per cent of the intervention price for paddy, while for Indica rice it was 180 per cent of the intervention price, both irrespective of the price or quality of the rice concerned.

 

This led to higher prices for rice being levied a lower duty. As per 'Head note 7,' the EU would impose duty on rice imports if a consignment’s price was higher than the union’s ceiling price.

 

Since basmati rice prices (aromatic Indica rice from India and Pakistan) were on average €250/tonne higher than the world market reference prices to be used for calculating the duty, a special abatement of an equivalent amount had to be granted to this rice. As a result, basmati imports increased from about 40 000 tonnes in 1994–95 to 100,000 tonnes in 1998–99, entering at low or zero duty.

 

Basmati escapes notice

Due to this ceiling, between July 1995 and February 2000, the applied import duty for husked Indica rice came down from around €390 a tonne to around €200. This was €89 below the agreed fixed tariff for 1999–2000.

 

Then, the EU did not notice the fact that Basmati rice was priced higher than its ceiling price. With the implementation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Uruguay round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the path was paved for basmati rice to enter the community at zero import duty.

 

The EU also imposed €264 a tonne as duty on basmati rice from India and Pakistan but listed eight varieties of the long-grained rice for zero duty. These included Pakistan’s Super Basmati, allowed after prolonged discussions, and India’s Pusa Basmati.

 

Increasing shipping risks

Another proposal is the increase mooted in the security deposit for any consignments entering the EU. Till now, it has been collecting a deposit of €30 per tonne. This is now being raised to €70, which increases the risk of the sub-continents losing money in case of a forfeiture.

 

The risk of forfeiture will increase as the EU will be digitising even non-customs formalities of shipments from 2025. The forfeiture may be for any adulteration or wrong authenticity of the fragrant rice.

 

'The Commission intends to digitise the whole process by establishing an electronic system for DG AGRI non-customs formalities (ELAN) based on TRACES.NT and linked to the EU Single Window Environment for customs … ELAN will define the digital processes in the future and will allow users to issue, store, and retrieve the necessary documents… After defining those digital processes, the legal provisions of the two Regulations will be amended accordingly,' the EU Council said in its proposal.

 

Issue of M.P. rice

This provision will bring in traceability of rice right from the farm where it is cultivated. This will create problems with regard to the GI tag for Indian basmati rice.

 

The GI tag given to basmati rice by the Indian authority recognises Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi as the growing regions. However, the fragrant rice grown in these regions sometimes runs into pesticide residue issues.

 

So, many exporters are sourcing basmati rice from Madhya Pradesh, which is not recognised as a growing region; the State’s case for GI tag is pending with the Supreme Court. With the decision to digitise, the EU will now have the upper hand to deny market share to rice from the central Indian State. 

 

Thus, the EU has come up with a strategy to overcome any situation that will affect its trade and industry, said Chandrasekaran. 'India will also have to be vigilant while discussing these issues and come up with its own protection policies,' he said.

Details of new initiatives/schemes/ programs launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for the welfare of farmers during recent years are given in the Annexure.

 

An evaluation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries sectors was done by Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog in 2020. The report finds the Centrally Sponsored Schemes implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare highly relevant for the development of agriculture sector as well as welfare of farmers of the nation and therefore, recommended for its continuation. Implementation of these schemes is closely monitored and reviewed at higher level on a regular basis, and the government engages in continuous consultations with all relevant stakeholders in order to ensure that any challenges or hindrances are promptly identified, and appropriate remedial actions are taken in a timely manner.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Arjun Munda in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

After India removed 'retaliatory import duty' on US apples in September, imports of American apples have surged 40 times in three months, while traders are hopeful of regaining market share. In 2017-18, the import of US apples was a record of over 7 million boxes, which dropped to 50,000 boxes in the 2022–23 (September–August) season.

 

In a promotional event event in New Delhi on Tuesday, Sumit Saran, country representative of Washington Apple Commission, said: 'We are hopeful to regain our market share. Apart from metros, we see a lot of sales in tier I and tier II cities. We do not promote when Indian production is in market. We wait till domestic production exhausts by January so our product can be from February.' The main sales period of US apples in India continues until July.

 

Saran said Washington apples had a kind of gone out of Indian market due to 'retaliatory tariff' of additional 20 per cent over and above basic import duty of 50 per cent imposed in 2019 in retaliation to section 232 of US government’s higher import tax on Indian steel and aluminium.

 

Creating a void

Though India announced to withdraw additional duty on US apples in June, the notification came only on September 6.

 

Claiming that the non-presence of Washington apples created a void both for traders and consumers, Saran said that 70 per cent duty was huge for the trade to compete with other origins that were paying 50 per cent duty.

 

Between September 1 and November 30, 440,000 boxes (of 20 kg each) have been imported, as against only about 10,000 boxes in the year-ago period, he said. In entire 2022-23 (September-August), India had imported 50,000 boxes of apple from the US whereas prior to the additional duty levied, the annual import by India was about 5 million boxes, he added.

 

The US was very concerned about the fall of its apple export to India as in 2017 India had becomes its second biggest export destination for apple, globally. Even in the domestic market it had 53 per cent share in the imported apple segment. Turkey, Iran, Italy, Chile, Poland are some of the main destinations from where Indian traders import.

 

Total imports of apples by India dropped to 3.74 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2022-23 from 4.59 lt in 2021-22, official data show. In 2027-18, import of apple was 2.58 lt.