The historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the UAE will come into effect on May 1, an Emirati minister said on Thursday. The agreement will provide significant benefits to Indian and UAE businesses, including enhanced market access and reduced tariffs.

 

Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi took to Twitter to announce that India and the UAE'S Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will come into effect on May 1.

 

'Are you ready for a new era of opportunity? #IndiaUAECEPA comes into effect on May 1, reducing tariffs, removing barriers to trade to helping our exporters access the world's sixth-largest economy,' he said in a tweet.

 

 

CEPA, a comprehensive path-breaking trade agreement between India and the UAE, was signed during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan on February 18.

 

The agreement was signed and exchanged by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri.

 

The CEPA is likely to boost trade between India and the UAE from USD 60 billion to USD 100 billion in the next five years, India's Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir had said.

 

The CEPA was finalised and signed in a record time of just 88 days, according to the Khaleej Times newspaper.

 

In February, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in an exclusive statement to UAE's official Emirates News Agency WAM, said that the signing of the UAE-India CEPA 'is a milestone event in our bilateral relations' and 'will open new opportunities in both trade in goods and services, and will lead to enhanced investments'.

 

The UAE is India's third-largest trading partner and accounts for approximately 40 per cent of its trade with the Arab world, the WAM report said.

 

In September last year, India and the UAE formally launched negotiations for the trade agreement.

 

The pact covers areas including goods, services, rules of origin, customs procedures, government procurement, intellectual property rights, and e-commerce.

 

Under such agreements, two trading partners reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them.

 

Besides, they also liberalise norms to enhance trade in services and boost investments.

 

Bilateral trade between India and the UAE stood at USD 43.3 billion in 2020-21. Exports were worth USD 16.7 billion and imports aggregated at USD 26.7 billion in 2020-21. The two-way commerce stood at USD 59.11 billion in 2019-20.

 

The UAE is a gateway to Africa and other parts of the world.

With the vision to promote sustainable trade and create market linkages, a mega buyer-seller meet was organized on 21st April, 2022 at Jammu and Kashmir under One District One Product initiative of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry with the support of Jammu & Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO).

 

 

The Buyer Seller Meet witnessed the presence of multiple national and International Brands with the cumulative revenue of over Rs 8,000 Crores and having their products available in over a million retail outlets across the world. Sellers, Traders, Farmers, Aggregators from various districts of Jammu & Kashmir showcased their products that are unique to the valley including the world-famous Kashmiri saffron, Himalayan White Acacia Honey, Red shiny Kidney beans, freshly grown organic vegetables and more. 

 

The Buyer Seller Meet provided a platform where different Government departments and institutions came together to boost the trade of selected products. Jammu & Kashmir agriculture and industries department worked together to bring quality products as per market requirement and it was imperative to connect this best-in-class products with renowned brands to improve earning potential of farmers. Collective discussion between all the stakeholders generated innovative ideas on diversification of products such as saffron based dairy products, Walnut based bakery products and more. Focused trade discussions were facilitated between the buyers and sellers which resulted in signing of Letters of Intent for 4 products amounting to INR 1.2 crores.

 

The above is a direct outcome of the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self Reliant India). DPIIT, under its initiative of One District One Product is working to ensure such linkages with a string focus on increasing farmers income. With over 700 products cutting across sectors like agriculture, textiles, handicrafts and manufacturing, the ODOP Initiative seeks to select, brand and promote one product from every district of the country. This is marked by a key role – to coordinate, create collaborative networks and enable handholding of buyers and sellers for the larger aim of trade promotion and facilitation.

 

The keynote address for the event was made by Shri. Som Parkash, Minister of State, Ministry and Commerce and Industry with the presence of various dignitaries such as Smt. Sumita Dawra, Additional Secretary, DPIIT; Shri. Navin Kumar Choudhary, Principal Secretary, Department of Agriculture Production and Farmers’ Welfare along with other subject matter experts from the Agricultural and Horticultural Departments of the Govt. of J&K. 

 

Alongside the Buyer-Seller Meet, an e-commerce onboarding session was also held by one of the leading e-commerce players in the country in order to support J&K based sellers to expand trade into web-based sales. Previously, the ODOP Initiative had facilitated the sale of 6750 kilograms of apples and 2000 kgs of walnuts from Budgam, Kashmir to Karnataka based buyers that were previously importing the same. Through the recognition of unique selling propositions (USP) of various products and keen handholding, the ODOP Initiative seeks to replicate such efforts at a larger scale through its latest mega buyer-seller meet.

The role of Cluster Based Business Organisations (CBBOs) should be to strengthen Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) so that farmers seek them out. FPO is not merely a company, it is a collective for the benefit of farmers. Emphasising this in his key note address at the inaugural session of the National Conference of Cluster Based Business Organisations (CBBOs) Union Agriculture Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that more and more farmers should be part of FPOs. Shri Tomar said that earlier around 7,000 FPOs were made but they could not last and a new scheme of FPOs was launched by the Prime Minister with an outlay of Rs. 6865 crore. At a time when the country is observing Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav the government is making every effort for the prosperity of farmers. Union Minister of State for Agriculture Shri Kailash Chaudhary also said that farmers should be enthusiastic about joining FPOs. At the conference Union Agriculture Minister also launched the logo for 10,000 FPOs Scheme.

 

Indian agriculture is dominated by small and marginal farmers with average land holdings size of less than 1.1 ha.These small and marginal farmers constituting more than 86 % of the total land holdings are facing tremendous challenges both in production and post-production scenarios like access to production technology, quality inputs at reasonable prices, seed production, custom hiring, value addition, processing, credit, investments and most importantly  markets. Hence, collectivization of such producers through formation of FPOs is very important to address such challenges and enhance their incomes. Realizing the need to form and promote FPOs across the country, Government formulated a dedicated Central Sector Scheme 'Formation & Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and the same was launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister on 29.02.2020 at Chitrakoot (UP) for implementation.

 

The scheme is based on produce cluster approach to enhance production, productivity, market access, promote diversification, value addition, processing and export and also to create agri based employment opportunities with the aim to economically empower farmers.

 

The FPOs to be eligible under the scheme for financial benefit and technical handholding are required to be registered either under Companies Act, 2013 or States’ Co-operative Societies Act with minimum number of 300 farmers in plain areas and 100 farmers in hilly and NER. Under the scheme, there is provision for financial support of maximum Rs.18.00 lakh per FPO for 3 years as management cost to make them sustainable and economically  viable . To strengthen the financial base of FPOs and entail them to avail  collateral  free loan, there is also provision for  matching equity grant of maximum Rs. 2000/- per member  with ceiling of Rs, 15 lakh /FPO and  Credit Guarantee facility upto bankable project loan of Rs. 2.00 crore respectively. 

 

Under the scheme CBBOs have been provisioned as the professional agency with a critical role to play as they are to engage themselves all along the value chain starting right from mobilization of farmers, baseline survey, identification of produce clusters, formation of groups, registration and capacity building to preparation of business plan, execution thereof with assurance to provide the market to the FPOs. They are also to establish cardinal link with Implementing Agencies and FPOs.

 

Progress:

 

1- More than 5.87 lakh farmers have been mobilized under the Scheme.

2- About 3 lakh farmers have been registered as shareholders of the FPOs.

3- Equity contribution by farmer members amounts to INR 36.82 crores.

4- Total equity base of the FPOs, including the Equity Grant released, amounts to INR 50 crores.

5- 201 women focused FPOs have been registered.

6- 481 FPOs registered in tribal districts.

7- FPOs have started business transactions:

. 84 FPOs of 14 CBBOs of SFAC have made transactions worth INR 928.28 lakhs

. 12 FPOs of 3 CBBOs of NAFED have made transactions worth INR 48.35 lakhs.

 

Considering CBBOs significance and to ensure that they discharge their duties effectively  and also to understand their field level implementation issues , representatives  of 265 CBBOs  empanelled by 13 Implementing Agencies were invited in today’s conference . All the 13 Implementing Agencies, senior officers from State Governments dealing with FPOs were also invited. More than 4,900 produce clusters have been allocated and 2331 FPOs registered.

 

The inaugural session of the conference was also addressed by Ms. Neelkamal Darbari, Managing Director, SFAC, Dr. G.R. Chintala, Chairman NABARD, Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Seceretary, Agriculture and Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Nadendla, Joint Secretary (Policy & Marketing), Agriculture.

Despite erratic weather affecting the quantity of the Alphonso, the ‘king of mangoes’, back in the US market after two years

India is one of the largest exporters of fresh mangoes in the world.

 

Last year it shipped more than 21,000 tonnes of fresh mangoes worth Rs 272 crore. Yet, the juicy US market has been out of bounds. Export of Indian mangoes had been restricted by the US since 2020 as the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors were unable to visit India for inspections of the processing facilities due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. Now, mango exports to the US have resumed with the first consignment reaching its shores on April 11. 

 

 

The major export of Alphonso to the US has started from Lasalgaon’s irradiation plant and the first consignment of three tonnes was dispatched last week. About 800 tonnes of mango is likely to be exported from the Lasalgaon centre to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, California and New York this season.

 

Alphonso mangoes from the Konkan region of Maharashtra have geographical indication (GI) tag for their unique taste, aroma, and colour. While horticulture scientists believe that the Portuguese brought the Alphonso to Konkan, researchers and farmers in the region have a different take. They insist that it is a local product and the Portuguese took it to the world market. Today, Alphonso is pivotal to Konkan’s regional economy. 

 

Sweet hopes  

 

In 2020 before the exports stopped, India send more than 1000 tonnes of mangoes to the US valued at $4.35 million. Exporters are confident of topping that figure this year. ' In the last few years, the demand for Alphonso in the the world market, especially the US has been on the rise before Covid-19 put the brakes. This season exports to the US has resumed and we hope there is no further hurdle' says Ramesh Vichare, a mango grower from Raigad in the Konkan region.

West Bengal is aiming to double exports of agricultural, horticultural and animal-based produce by 2030, and has introduced several enabling policies to fructify the objective, a top state government official said on Thursday.

 

The government has identified export clusters across the state to ensure focused processing and higher production, he said.

 

 

There is a huge potential of doubling exports. We need to channelise opportunities and make it happen. The state has done exceedingly well in the agriculture and allied sector, including fisheries, horticulture, food processing and animal resource. A lot of enabling policies have also been brought out by the government, Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi said at the Bengal Global Business Summit here.

 

Dwivedi also unveiled the Agriculture Export Policy of West Bengal-2022' during a special session on international trade on the second and concluding day of the summit.

 

The major exported products from Bengal include rice, potato, vegetables and fruits to countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Singapore, Malaysia, UK, Italy, Germany and Sweden, another state government official said.

 

According to the policy document, the state's target is to increase its contribution to India's agriculture and allied products in respect of exports to Rs 20,000 crore in 2028-29 from Rs 6,800 crore in 2018-19.

 

The small landholding pattern and low farmer awareness in West Bengal has often led to limited volumes of different varieties of multiple crops with little or no standardisation. Export-oriented cluster development across the state will be the key to ensuring surplus produce with standard physical and quality parameters to meet export demands, the second official said.

 

Some of the export clusters identified are Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Nadia, Bankura and Howrah districts, he said.

 

The West Bengal government also plans to establish an Export Facilitation Centre, which will operate from the Office of the Paschimbanga Agri Marketing Corporation Ltd. The centre will handhold and educate budding exporters and facilitate their registration with different government organisations and other institutions, among other functions, he added.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued an advisory and warned against misuse of FSSAI logo and Food Safety Training & Certification (FoSTaC) logo in any form and misrepresentations as a FSSAI employee by persons hired by FoSTaC Training Partner for mobilisation.

 

'Trainers, Assessors, Training Partners, their employees and any other person/entity are hereby warned to not to use FSSAI and FoSTaC logos in any form without permission, failing which they will be blacklisted/banned by FSSAI without any show cause notice. Legal action may also be taken for unauthorised use of FSSAI and FoSTaC logos depending on the nature and gravity of act against the subject or person or entity,' reads the advisory issued by FSSAI.

 

According to the FSSAI, a number of complaints have been received from various Restaurant, Trade Associations, Small Shopkeepers etc., that persons with ID card having FSSAI logo and/or FoSTaC logo on it have been visiting their premises; asking them to show food registration/licence certificate; forcing them to undergo training under FoSTaC to get Food Safety Supervisor (FSS) certificate; and, threatening them with charging heavy penalty for disobey.

 

'It has also come to the notice that pamphlets having FSSAI and FoSTaC logos are being distributed and cash receipts having FSSAI and FoSTaC logos are also being issued by a few training partners. Some of the training partners have been charging membership fees along with FoSTaC course fee which is not allowed,' read FSSAI’s statement.

 

The advisory says that FSSAI has not authorised any FoSTaC training partner, trainer or assessor to use FSSAI or FoSTaC logo on ID cards, pamphlet, brochure, cash receipts, email signature, visiting cards, profile pictures on social media, etc. 'As such unauthorised use of FSSAI and FoSTaC logos in any manner is unlawful and subject to legal action,' the advisory added.

The plant-based foods movement is gaining global momentum with the formation of an International Plant Based Foods Working Group (IPBFWG) to support growth of the rising sector.

 

Plant-based food associations from seven regions/countries including India have joined forces to form the working group with a mission to support the development of the sector as it surges in popularity around the world.

 

IPBFWG’s current executive comprises of—Plant-Based Foods Canada(PBFC), US-based Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA), European Alliance for Plant Based Foods(EAPF), European Plant Based Foods Association(ENSA), Plant-Based Food Alliance UK, China Plant Based Foods Association and Plant Based Foods Industry Association (India).

 

The working group members will align and coordinate on high-level strategies and initiatives, with the goal of advancing the plant-based food sector around the world, a statement said. The current food system is widely acknowledged as one of the contributors to many of the most pressing issues faced by a global population.

 

Plant-based foods can be a part of the solution to issues that are worry many consumers, companies and governments and offer real advantages when it comes to water use, land use and carbon emissions. Despite its diverse global footprint, the IPBFWG is united in its efforts to bring about a more healthy, sustainable, and humane food system.

 

Siska Pottie, Secretary General, EAPF said, 'The European Alliance for plant-based food is pleased to join forces with other national plant-based food associations, for creating a global network to exchange knowledge and insights. and work support the creation of national plant-based organisations accelerating the global transition towards sustainable plant-based food systems in different continents.'

 

Sanjay Sethi, ED, Plant Based Foods Industry Association said, 'The plant-based food sector is seeing exponential growth, and a lot of effort needs to be taken to provide a level playing field for this nascent but promising industry. With the debut of IPBFWG, we have initiated a coordinated development, and spirits are high and magnificent, just like one big family.'

 

Beyond its seven launch partners, the IPBFWG will be expanding its membership around the world, with more organisations expected to join.

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal has called upon the Cost & Management Accountants to ensure quality production by industry and help boost India’s exports. Cost Accountants help make the Indian Industry cost competitive and cost conscious, he said.

 

'If we start loading costs to our export products and if we literally start doing marginal costing on the other hand, it can make a world of difference to our cost competitiveness, our ability to increase our exports and, frankly, our ability to (a) recover its cost and (b) start reporting profits,' said Shri Goyal, after giving away the ‘17th National Awards for Excellence in Cost Management-2019’ and ‘5th CMA awards-2017 & 6th CMA Awards-2019’, organised by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) here today.

 

Shri Goyal said ‘Exports’ is the 'virtuous circle of prosperity' that we have to focus upon.

 

'Anything we add on the exports front is adding to our economic activity; when we add to our economic activity, look at what all we are doing, - (a) we earn precious foreign exchange, which will help us balance our import requirements, our foreign currency requirements, in addition to, of course, investments and large remittances that over 3 crore Indians all over the world send to India, but we still have a shortfall,' he said.

 

Underlining a strong and stable Rupee will be for the 'wider good' of foreign trade, Shri Goyal said our higher Forex reserves help our currency from depreciation.

 

'If we can save our currency from depreciating, we can reduce interest rates, we can reduce the impact of inflation on our society, after all we have a large number of products that we are importing,' he said.

 

Shri Goyal said ICAI has been nurturing the Cost & Management Accountant (CMA) professionals for 78 years. Today, it is the 2nd largest Cost & Management Accounting body in the world & largest in Asia, with more than 85,000 professionals, and about 5 lakh students pursuing CMA.

 

Shri Goyal said the CMAs are the guardians of growth. Keeping a check on costs, they help organizations in ensuring that there’s efficiency in every activity, he said.

 

'Let’s all take one step ahead in this journey. And as the Prime Minister says, ‘When each one of us takes one step, it’s 135 crore steps towards prosperity,' he said.

The Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, food and Public Distribution and textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today said that India had the potential to achieve USD 1 Trillion services and merchandise exports each by 2030. Addressing the ‘21st Civil Services Day 2022, Plenary Session on Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Focus on Exports’ in New Delhi today, the minister stressed upon the need to make exports the fulcrum of India’s growth. 

 

Conveying his congratulations and best wishes in advance to Civil Services officers across the country on the occasion of 21st Civil Services Day, Shri Goyal said that it was indeed an occasion for the civil servants to renew their dedication to the cause of the nation and reiterate their commitment to public service. 'Always be conscious that lakhs of lives are affected by every decision, action and signature of yours', the Minister told the officers. 

 

Dwelling on the History of the Indian Civil Services, the Minister said that during the pre-independence era, the approach of service largely remained pro-British due to compulsions of being under the foreign rule. On a positive note, the Minister said that in the last 75 years, there have been a lot of deliberation on the outlook, character and design of Indian civil services, which have helped it performed very well in the last seven decades. 

 

 

The minister congratulated all the winners of PM Awards for providing innovative, participative and technology driven administrative solutions to modern problems.  

Speaking of the challenges thrown by the COVID 19 pandemic, the Minister said that India was able to turn the crisis into an opportunity to realize the enormous potential that it had to engage with the world from a position of strength. 

 

 

The Minister observed that one of the biggest beneficiaries of our hard work during the pandemic was the services sector which has grown by leaps and bounds. We had a USD 250 billion export of services during the last year and this was achieved despite travel, tourism and hospitality being severely affected due to Covid-19, he said. 

 

 

Applauding the achievement, Shri Goyal said that one of the reasons it was made possible was the adaptability and speed with which we reconfigured our processes and rules, facilitated working from home, ensured that people could move equipment, secured broadband access to all. Asserting that all through COVID, India did not let down a single international commitment, the Minister said that the world wanted to deepen its engagement with India because India was trusted to deliver, even in the most adverse of circumstances.  

 

 

Speaking of India’s robust, living and active democracy, Shri Goyal said that rule of law prevailed across the country and that we had transparent models of governance, a very active media, strong judiciary and democratic institutions and systems that always upheld the right against the wrong. This makes India a trusted partners to the world, both in the geopolitical sphere as well as trade, he added. 

 

It may be noted that India achieved USD 419 bn in FY 21-22, touched USD 30 billion of exports every month and in March, it touched USD 42 billion. The growth momentum has been maintained in the first 14 days of April with touching USD 18.5 billion. 

 

 

The Minister said that the achievement of such targets was only possible because of the ‘whole of the government’ and ‘whole of the nation’ approaches that we have adopted, the Minister said, with Centre, States Local Bodies, Public Sector Undertakings, autonomous bodies working together to achieve feats like USD 420 billion merchandise exports and USD 250 billion services export, both first of its kind accomplishments.

 

 

This achievement is not just a milestone in our Aatmanirbhar Bharat journey, but also a message to the rest of world - that New India offers quality, reliability and scale, Shri Goyal added. 

Highlighting the immense potential for growth in exports, the Minister said that labor-oriented sectors like gems and jwellery, textiles, pharma, handloom, handicrafts, leather, etc must receive greater push to boost employment and income generation. 

 

 

Touching upon the need to develop scale, the Minister said that Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes are making our industry competitive by bringing in Economies of Scale and will help us create global champions. 

 

 

Elaborating upon the importance of peaceful labor environment to ensure flow of investment into the country, Shri Goyal complement labor for the hard work they put in and for peaceful conduct of economic activity all over the country. He added that there was no significant incident of labor disruption in the last 8 years and added that even when businesses had to be shut because of the lack of viability, the government took care to give the labor their due. Stating that having robust labor laws will ultimately benefit labor and create more job opportunities, the Minister said. 

 

 

Speaking of the recent decision to remove the import duty on cotton, the Minister clarified that that the decision was made to ensure the affordability of cotton particularly in a scenario where cotton prices stood at almost twice the Minimum Support Price, making textile exports uncompetitive. 

 

 

 

The lower import costs will boost manufacturing, create jobs, increase the disposable income of people, boost investment, demand and economic activity and create a virtuous cycle, he added. The minister said that the government also recently removed anti-dumping duty on several raw materials for the same reasons.

 

 

Mentioning that our share in global goods trade was under 3% in 2021, the Minister said that there is immense scope for growth. For this to happen, the Centre and States have to work in tandem, he added and asked District collectors to promote exports in their districts. 

 

 

Observing that India had the 2nd largest US FDA approved Pharma manufacturing units, Shri Goyal asked all pharma units, big and small to adopt good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and global quality standards in all processes. He said that India must strive to become a member of Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PICS) so that we may succeed in taking our pharma export to USD 200 billion by earning the trust of the world through certification.

India is likely to set an ambitious export target of around $800 billion for goods and services for 2022-23, almost 19.5% higher than $670 billion clocked in 2021-22. The targets - of $450-480 billion for merchandise and $350 billion for services - were discussed in a series of meetings that commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal had with exporters on Wednesday.

 

India's goods exports touched a record $420 billion in 2021-22, exceeding the government's target by about 5% and up 40% on-year while services exports touched $250 billion.

 

'These are consultative meetings and the targets are yet to be fixed,' said an official. Exporters raised the issue of high prices of inputs as buyers are now reluctant to raise prices proportionately due to sufficient inventory and lack of demand.

 

 

Restoration of the Market Access Initiative scheme for opening of warehouses overseas, easing of visa requirements for inbound tourism and a revised Transport and Marketing Assistance scheme for certain agricultural products in view of the opportunity in farm exports from the Russia-Ukraine crisis were also taken up, according to sources.

 

'Despite a rise in Covid cases globally, there is an expectation that travel and tourism will grow this year,' said an industry representative.