Qais Mohamed Al Yousef Oman’s Minister of Commerce & Industry & Investment Promotion will visit India this week eyeing to push the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) close on the heels of India-UAE CEPA opening up opportunities for India in the resource rich Gulf region.

 

The Oman Minister besides holding dialogue with his Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal could also call on the Prime Minister and National Security Adviser underscoring the significance of strategic partnership in the Indian Ocean Region, ET has learnt. Coinciding with the visit of Al Yousef, UAE’s Minister of Economy Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri is expected to visit India to push investment partnership exploring opportunities across sectors both in India as well as UAE, according to persons familiar with the development.

 

Al Yousef, who is accompanied by a high-level business delegation comprising over 40 top business honchos from Oman, is expected to push PTA with India, according to one of the persons quoted above. 'There has been a series of high level engagements since February beginning with the visit of Oman Defence Secretary followed by Navy Chief and Joint Air Force Exercise. This was followed by the visit of Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, and the trade Minister is expected to visit India between May 10-14,' Oman’s Ambassador to India Hamed Saif AL Rawahi told ET. Oman has potential in many industries such as tourism, fisheries, logistics, mining, creative NSE 1.27 % and technology services, and manufacturing.

 

The Omani government actively encourages foreign direct investment and has used the proceeds from oil and gas to develop the country’s infrastructure and human resources, according to AL Rawahi. Oman is seeking partnership with India to realise Vision-2040, AL Rawahi added. Oman’s (India’s oldest strategic partner in the Gulf) location on the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, at the crossroads of the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and South Asia, and in proximity to shipping lanes carrying a significant share of the world’s maritime commercial traffic and access to larger regional markets, which is an attractive feature for potential foreign investors. India is in fact working closely with Oman to enhance strategic depth in the region and add heft to its Indo-Pacific vision in the Western and Southern Part of Indian Ocean.

 

The Indian Navy has been given access at the Duqm Port. Port of Duqm SEZ, which is earmarked to be the Indian Oceans largest deep sea port where an Indo-Oman Joint Venture, Sebacic Oman is undertaking a $ 1.2 billion project for setting up the largest Sebacic acid plant in West Asia. A ‘Little India’ integrated tourism complex project in Duqm, worth $ 748 million, has been signed between the two countries, according to the Omani envoy.

 

Some of the established industrial enterprises in Port of Sohar, with an estimated total Indian investment of over $2 billion, Indian entities comprise the largest foreign investors. Oman India Fertilizer Company in Sur is a $ 969 million India-Oman joint venture in Oman between IFFCO and KRIBHCO of India and Oman Oil Company (OOC) for manufacturing of fertilizers plant produces all the UREA exclusively for Indian farmers. At Oman’s Port of Salalah, Indian investments are in manufacturing of automotive parts, textiles, cables, guar gum, etc.

 

All these ports are a mere five days shipping time from western Indian Sea Ports. Oman too has invested substantially in India and some of the investments are-- India-Oman Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF), a JV between State Bank of India and State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) of Oman, a special purpose vehicle to invest in India, has been operational.

Bharat Oman Refineries BORL the Oman India Joint venture is a $ 1.2 billion investment in India, according to AL Rawahi . Way back in 1994 Oman banks financed vaccine production startup facility Shantha Biotechnics the first Indian company to develop, manufacture and market recombinant human healthcare products .

 

The start up was wholly funded by Oman banks with significant share-holding by Oman investors. It was a major breakthrough in international vaccine pricing and supply to poor countries worldwide. Today the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi group of France.

 

Between Oman and India Investment flows both ways have increased and have been robust, as reflected in numerous joint ventures, established both in India and Oman with estimated total investment of around $ 7.5 billion. There are over 3200 Indian enterprises and establishments in Oman.

A new UK India Industry Taskforce, a joint commission to increase cross-industry collaboration and push the UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) over the line, was launched on Monday.

 

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have created the new taskforce as part of a memorandum of understanding to provide a 'critical forum' for discussion to ensure the FTA works to the benefit of businesses in both countries.

 

The joint commission is designed to provide oversight and meet ahead of key milestones to reflect views on trade-offs, breakdown barriers to market access and help feed in on-the-ground business intelligence at a ministerial level in India and the UK.

 

 

'I look forward to working with CII on this new commission to strengthen our ties across trade, investment, climate and health as our countries recover from the twin shock of Covid and the Ukraine crisis,' said CBI President Lord Karan Bilimoria.

 

 

'A free trade agreement with the world's fastest growing economy is now within touching distance, and to clinch that deal a focus on lowering barriers to trade is now essential.

 

'For example, on renewables, we have an opportunity to export UK's expertise in clean tech. A deal has the potential to drastically lower tariffs on wind turbines parts that are currently as high as 15 per cent,' he said.

 

More broadly, a deal anchored in slashing tariffs, improving the ability to move talent across borders as well as data, will unlock plenty of prizes across a host of sectors from services and life sciences to tech and innovation, the Indian-origin peer and entrepreneur said.

 

During a visit to India last month, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed that the negotiators have been set a timeline of Diwali in October to complete a draft FTA.

 

The negotiating teams have since completed the third round of talks in New Delhi, with a focus on reducing the barriers to trade, cutting tariffs, and supporting firms to export.

 

According to the CBI, reducing tariffs on green exports such as solar, onshore, and offshore wind, could open up new opportunities for companies in India, with an FTA with India expected to nearly double UK exports to India.

 

A trade deal is also expected to boost Britain's total trade by as much as 28 billion pounds (USD 34 billion) a year by 2035 and increase wages across the UK regions by 3 billion pounds (USD 3.6 billion), according to industry estimates.

 

'This partnership is an opportunity to address shared concerns, identify common interests and foster greater understanding and to develop capacity to address the issues of economic and global concerns,' CII Director-General Chandrajit Banerjee said of the new UK India Industry Taskforce.

 

'The collaboration between CII and CBI will cover joint efforts in specific areas such as advancing technology and digitalisation, climate change and sustainability, multilateral collaboration, alignment on FTA and education. As we build upon this renewed partnership today, we are eager and excited to be working together with a focused approach,' he said.

 

Between them, the two industry organisations say they represent over 300,000 businesses of all sizes across both countries.

World food commodity prices decreased in April after a large jump the previous month, led by modest declines in the prices of vegetable oils and cereals, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported recently.

 

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 158.5 points in April 2022, down 0.8 per cent from the all-time high reached in March. The Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of commonly-traded food commodities, remained 29.8 per cent higher than in April 2021.

 

The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index decreased by 5.7 per cent in April, shedding almost a third of the increase registered in March, as demand rationing pushed down prices for palm, sunflower and soy oils. Uncertainties about export availabilities out of Indonesia, the world’s leading palm oil exporter, contained further declines in international prices.

 

'The small decrease in the index is a welcome relief, particularly for low-income food-deficit countries, but still food prices remain close to their recent highs, reflecting persistent market tightness and posing a challenge to global food security for the most vulnerable,' said FAO chief economist Máximo Torero Cullen.

 

The FAO Cereal Price Index declined by 0.7 points in April, nudged down by a 3.0 per cent decline in world maize prices. International wheat prices, strongly affected by continued blockage of ports in Ukraine and concerns over crop conditions in the United States of America but tempered by larger shipments from India and higher-than-expected exports from the Russian Federation, increased by 0.2 per cent. International rice prices increased by 2.3 per cent from their March levels, buoyed by strong demand from China and the Near East.

 

Meanwhile, the FAO Sugar Price Index increased by 3.3 per cent, buoyed by higher ethanol prices and concerns over the slow start of the 2022 harvest in Brazil, the world’s largest sugar exporter.

 

The FAO Meat Price Index increased by 2.2 per cent from the previous month, setting a new record high, as prices rose for poultry, big and bovine meat. Poultry meat prices were affected by disruptions to exports from Ukraine and rising avian influenza outbreaks in the Northern hemisphere. By contrast, ovine meat prices averaged marginally lower.

 

The FAO Dairy Price Index also was up, by 0.9 per cent, on the back of persistent global supply tightness as milk output in Western Europe and Oceania continued to track below their seasonal levels. World butter prices rose the most, influenced by a surge in demand associated with the current shortage of sunflower oil and margarine.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles, and Commerce & Industry has sought effective implementation of laws to protect consumer interests without harassment of businesses.

 

Delivering his inaugural address at the ‘National Workshop on legal Metrology Act, 2009’ here today, Shri Goyal suggested a pragmatic approach to decriminalize laws and urged states to support the initiative to balance the interest of consumers with the need to simplify laws so that businesses, particularly the small enterprises, are not put to undue hardship.

 

'It’s our collective responsibility to ensure that the consumers do not face injustice while at the same time understanding the responsibility towards businessmen so that they can work peacefully,' the minister said.

 

He said that the focus should be mainly on differentiating between mens rea and bona fide cases. He gave example stating that if any wrongdoing at places where calibration of Weights & Measurements is done, then strict action should be taken. He mentioned that this is also mentioned in Kautilya’s Arthashastra which mentions ‘Chief Controller of Weights & Measurements’ and states, ‘All measuring instruments shall be inspected and stamped once every four months on payment of stamping fee’.

 

Talking about the statistics, Shri Goyal said that 97% of cases of first offenses were booked by the State Government on limited sections while no second offense was booked under the same sections. He said that the data exposes the State Governments that are opposing decriminalization.

 

'Why are there so many first offenses and second offenses are Nil? How many cases are there as 2nd offense in respective states? What has the State Government done when there is no second offense?' he questioned the states.

 

As per the statistics of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the number of cases booked by the States/UTs as a first offense in 2018-19 was 1,13,745 while those compounded were 97,690. In the same period, the number of second offenses in which case was booked was 12 of which only 4 cases were filed in the court.

 

'Keeping this trend in mind, the number of offenses should gradually drop to Nil,' Shri Goyal raised concern.

 

During the address, he said, 'I believe that this workshop will help finalize recommendations for the decriminalization of the LM Act. Earlier, this issue was discussed with all State Govts via VC on 2 July’21, wherein some states were not in favour of decriminalizing the provisions of the LM Act.'

 

Shri Goyal said that it’s significant to bring a transparent system in place so that people can do business with simplicity. He added that ‘Jago Grahak Jago’ shouldn’t only be a slogan. There should be consumer awareness campaigns. The consumers should be motivated to come forward with the complaints so as to benefit society as a whole.

 

He suggested making the process simple and said there should be a way of taking calibrated action against non-compliance wherever reported. He said investors should get the message that habitual offenders would not be spared, but the sincere businesses would not be unnecessarily harmed.

 

Shri Goyal appreciated the campaign of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) that launched a country-wide campaign to prevent the sale of counterfeit Helmets, Pressure Cookers & Cooking Gas Cylinders, etc. He echoed the PM’s vision of ‘Vocal for Local’ and ‘Local to Global’ urging to achieve quality as ‘One Nation One Standard’.

 

He said that as the world will celebrate World Metrology Day on 20th May, by then a transparent and consumer-centric LM Act should be put up in the public domain for the benefit of consumers. 

 

He also released two e-Books along with other dignitaries. One e-Book is a compendium of all the provisions of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011 with all the amendments. The other e-Book contains Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011. Together, these 2 e-Books will help all the stakeholders to understand what is required from them under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011.

 

Present during the workshop, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Environment, Forest & Climate Change Shri Ashwini Choubey emphasized that the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act will be discussed in the Workshop and a consensus will be reached on how to ensure ease of doing business while protecting the interests of consumers. He highlighted that stigmatizing the industry is not conducive to the economy and there is a need to protect the businesses, specially the small businesses, from harassment of official machinery for them to prosper. For this, he suggested that the businesses should not be harassed for inadvertent error, however, the repeat offenders should not be spared from the action.

 

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Rural Development Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in her keynote address emphasized that the Government under the great leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister has repealed some obsolete laws. She praised the initiative of the Department of Consumer Affairs to organise the Workshop to amend provisions of Legal Metrology keeping in view the changes in the country. She mentioned the need to do all that is necessary in the national interest. She expressed the hope that deliberations of the Workshop would help the Department in finding ways for the betterment of the industry and the consumers.

 

Shri Rohit Kumar, Secretary Department of Consumer Affairs, shed light on the issues stating that by decreasing the burden on businesses and inspiring confidence amongst the investors, focusing on economic growth and consumer interests, mens rea (malafides/ criminal intent) is an important factor when it comes to the imposition of criminal liability, therefore, it is critical to evaluate the nature of non-compliance i.e. fraud as compared to negligence or inadvertent omission and at the same time, habitual offenders must be taken to task for recurring non-compliance.

 

Shri Dushyant Chautala, Deputy CM, Haryana, Shri Karumuri Venkata Nageshwara Rao, Minister Consumer Affairs, Food, and Civil Supplies, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Amrendra Pratap Singh, Minister of Agriculture, Government of Bihar, Shri Imran Hussain, Minister of Food Supplies, Environment & Forest &Elections, Government of Delhi, Shri L Susindro Meitei, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Manipur, Shri Ranendra Pratap Swain, Minister of Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department, Government of Odisha, Shri Ashish Patel, Minister of Technical Education, Consumer Protection, Weights and Measures, Government of Uttar Pradesh and Shri Arun Kumar Upreti, Minister of Urban & Housing Development, Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Government of Sikkim were present at the workshop.

A delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, led by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, on a visit to Israel, today visited Israel based Green 2000 – Agricultural Equipment and Know How Ltd. and NETAFIM Ltd. During the interaction with the Israeli representatives, Shri Tomar said that the relations established between India and Israel in the agricultural sector will give new dimensions to the Indian agriculture sector. In recent years, our ties have further strengthened and the future vision of cooperation is in the form of a strong hi-tech partnership for both knowledge-based economies.

 

The delegation led by Union Minister Shri Tomar today interacted with the experts of these companies on various developmental aspects related to modern farming practices. During the visit, nursery practices, planting material of fruit-trees and vineyards, post-harvest technology, greenhouse farming, micro and smart irrigation systems and improved dairy and poultry farming were the main topics of discussion.

 

Shri Tomar said that more than 300 investments have been made from Israel in India mainly in hi-tech domain and agriculture. Micro-irrigation is important towards increasing water use efficiency at the farm level, reducing input cost and ultimately helping in increasing the income of farmers. Netafim is a leading micro irrigation company in India. India has a good association with Netafim in the adoption of micro irrigation and drip irrigation at the field level in the country.

 

Union Minister Shri Tomar said that to give further impetus to micro irrigation, a dedicated Micro Irrigation Fund has been set up with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Government of India to help States in mobilizing additional resources for expanding the coverage of Micro Irrigation.

 

On 10th May, Union Minister Shri Tomar will visit a dessert farm owned by Indian-origin farmers producing Indian vegetables in the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani and Negev desert region. Shri Tomar will also inspect the demonstration of the use of drones by ALTA Precision Agriculture Company Ltd.

The government has permitted additional export of 2,051 metric tonne of raw sugar under the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) to America for the US fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, according to DGFT. TRQ is a quota for a volume of exports that enter the US at relatively low tariffs. After the quota is reached, a higher tariff applies to additional imports.

 

'Additional quantity of 2,051 MT of raw sugar, for export to the US, under TRQ up to September 30, 2022, has been notified,' Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said in a public notice.

 

It added that with this quantity, total sugar export to the US under TRQ during US fiscal year 2022 would be 10,475 MT.

 

 

India, the world's second-biggest producer and the largest consumer of sugar, has a preferential quota arrangement for sugar export with the European Union as well.

The commerce ministry may save around Rs 9,000 crore out of the Rs 56,000 crore allocated to settle pending claims for merchandise as well as service exports under various export promotion schemes. 'Our cumulative requirement will not be Rs 56,000 crore, which has been sanctioned. We may not require Rs 8,000-9,000 crore. We were more generous and liberal in our initial estimate.

 

In many old cases, exporters may not have claimed incentives that we earlier included. Many exporters who applied may also not be eligible,' said a senior government official. While the ...

Infra hurdles, high support prices and govt interventions hinder India from being a major player in the global wheat market

 

Notwithstanding the human tragedy associated with the war between Russia and Ukraine, it has, nevertheless, opened up new opportunities for India. In March 2022, India achieved its highest-ever merchandise export, surpassing $40 billion.

 

 

Though India exports many agricultural products, it is noteworthy that wheat exports stood at $1,742 million during April–January 2021–22, which was a 387 per cent increase compared to that in the previous year.

 

Considering that Russia and Ukraine together account for about 29 per cent of the global wheat exports, their inability to export wheat has led to the doubling of wheat prices in the global market — from $229 per tonne in March 2021 to $533 per tonne in March 2022.

 

The war and the resultant high crude oil prices as well as many other headwinds have caused the Rupee to depreciate. However, both these factors — high international wheat prices and depreciation of Rupee — have resulted in a bonanza for Indian wheat exporters.

 

Here, it is noteworthy that though India is the second largest producer of wheat, it does not feature among the top 20 exporters. Traditionally, India has been exporting wheat to only its neighbouring countries, — Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, with Bangladesh accounting for nearly 50–55 per cent of India’s wheat exports.

 

Coinciding with higher wheat price reigning globally, India has entered new export markets such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar, and Indonesia. Additionally, Indian exporters have been exploring opportunities in Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer. Egypt imports about 80 per cent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine, which stood at $2 billion in 2021.

 

However, India earlier was not in the list of accredited countries permitted to export wheat to Egypt. But a delegation from Egypt visited India in April to facilitate more wheat exports to the North African nation.

 

But how long will this silver lining last for India? Also, once the war is over, will India be able to leverage its experience and sustain the export momentum?

 

India is expected to produce 111 million tonnes (MT) of wheat for the 2021–22 crop year; further, the Centre’s procurement target is around 45 million tonnes through minimum support price (MSP). In addition, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) currently has 23 MT of wheat stocks against a buffer stock requirement norm of 7 MT, indicating that India has significant wheat surplus.

 

However, there are some factors that may hinder India’s aspiration to be an important wheat exporter.

 

Logistics hurdles

Logistical challenges such as congestion at ports and unavailability of train rakes are major infrastructural bottlenecks for wheat exports from India. At present, a bulk of India’s wheat export is sourced from Madhya Pradesh, which is closer to Kandla and Mundra ports. Discussions are going on among the shipping and commerce ministries, and the Railways to facilitate wheat export from Navi Mumbai and Kakinada ports.

 

The Commerce Ministry has also mandated the Railways to make available extra rail wagons for transport of wheat. It is also working with port authorities to prioritise wheat exports. The Centre has also empanelled 200-odd government-approved laboratories to test the quality of wheat, having mandated the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to monitor the quality of wheat being exported.

 

Right now there seems to be a sense of urgency to fill the void caused by the Russia–Ukraine war, and the government machinery is making an all-out effort to support and facilitate exports. However, though these measures are commendable, such ad hoc top–down measures will only yield short-term benefit, which is, increasing India’s wheat export for the current year.

 

With wheat being a commodity of daily consumption, Indian exporters have to become price-competitive to find a strong foothold in the export market.

 

Supply chain efficiency contributes significantly to being cost efficient. Unless seamless infrastructural facilities and timely and cheaper modes of transport are available in the coming days, India may find it difficult to make significant inroads into the wheat export market.

 

The MSP factor 

Another fundamental factor that influences India’s export competitiveness is the Centre’s MSP. Irrespective of the supply and demand situation, both at global and domestic markets, in India, MSP for a given year is set at a higher price as compared to that in the previous year (see graph). A high MSP paid by the government sets a higher benchmark price for Indian exporters. To export, private players need to buy wheat at the MSP or at a higher price than the MSP, making Indian exporters non-competitive in the global market. Unless the international prices are sufficiently higher, Indian exporters lose their competitiveness and hence do not participate in the process at all.

 

 

Due to high MSP prices, India has remained a rather small player in the export market, even though thousands of tonnes of wheat and rice rot in the FCI warehouses. Considering that there’s no plan to do away with the MSP in the near future, the chances for Indian wheat to become competitive in the global market appear to be slim.

 

Govt interventions

Wheat, being an essential commodity, is prone to frequent government interventions in terms of export bans and imposition of higher import duty. The Centre also bans agri-commodity derivatives’ trading in domestic exchanges routinely. These frequent bans and interferences hinder export competitiveness. The fact that Russia, Canada, and the US are top three exporters of wheat though they produce 25–60 per cent less wheat than India is proof of the market distorting impact of these bans.

 

Right now, many countries have opened their doors to Indian wheat to rein in the high food prices. The world sentiment for Indian wheat is rightly echoed by Vijay Iyengar, the chairman and managing director of Singapore-based Agrocorp International. He said, 'We have not seen this kind of frenzy for Indian wheat in the global markets before.' Infrastructural bottlenecks, high MSP, and frequent government interventions in the wheat market make it difficult for wheat importing countries to have a long-term relationship with India. The current export opportunity for wheat seems to be the case of making hay while the sun shines.

 

The writer is Professor (Finance & Accounting), Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur. Views expressed are personal

UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri will be leading a high-level business delegation to India this week to discuss ways to further promote trade and investments between the two countries, an official said. The visit, from May 11-15, assumes significance as both the countries have implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on May 1.

 

UAE's minister for small and medium enterprises is also part of the delegation.

 

'It will be an important visit as we have implemented the free trade pact,' the official said.

 

The CEPA is expected to boost bilateral trade to $100 billion in the next five years from $60 billion at present.

 

 

Under the trade agreement, domestic exporters in various sectors like textiles, agriculture, dry fruits, gems and jewellery are availing duty-free access to the UAE market.

 

The UAE is one of the largest trading partners of India and that country is a gateway to the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Overall, India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97 per cent of its tariff lines (or goods), which account for 99 per cent of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms -- particularly from labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, and engineering products.

The Department of Consumer Affairs is organizing a one-day ‘National Workshop on Legal Metrology Act, 2009’ on 9th May, 2022, with the purpose to take deliberations from all stake holders on the issue of decriminalization of Legal Metrology Act, 2009 keeping a balance in consumers and industries.  Decriminalization of Legal Metrology Act, 2009 is being considered for ease of doing business by removing unnecessary interference.

 

Additionally, the objective of the workshop is to ensure that the consumer is not short shifted by way of use of non-standard weights & measures and incorrect disclosure without increasing the burden on businesses and hindering economic growth.  The purpose of this workshop is stakeholder’s consultation to identify the success by decriminalizing the Legal Metrology Act to facilitate Ease of Doing Business and to protect the interest of consumers.

 

The workshop will be presided by Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles, and Commerce, Industry. Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Environment, Forest & Climate Change Shri Ashwini Choubey and Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Rural Development Ms. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti will also grace the occasion and address the participants.

 

The key issues for consideration of decriminalization of Legal Metrology Act, 2009 are: Decrease the burden on businesses and inspire confidence amongst the investors; Focus on economic growth and protection of consumer interest; Mens rea (malafide/ criminal intent) plays an important role in imposition of criminal liability – therefore, it is critical to evaluate nature of non-compliance i.e. fraud as compared to negligence or inadvertent omission; and

 

Habitual offenders for repetition of non-compliance.

 

All stake holders comprising of Ministers, Secretaries, Controllers of Legal Metrology of State Governments, Industries, VCOs etc will participate in the workshop.