Gujarat has retained the top position at the NITI Aayog’s second edition of the Export Preparedness Index 2021 followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as the top 10 performers.

 

Among union territories, Delhi has topped the index followed by Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh and Puducheery while Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur were at the top five paces among Himalayan states.

 

The index, prepared by NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness, is a comprehensive analysis of India’s export achievements. The index is used to benchmark the performance of states and UTs against their peers and analyse potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms to foster export-led growth at the subnational level.

 

The EPI ranks states and UTs on four main pillars, policy; business ecosystem; export ecosystem and export performance along with and 11 sub-pillars that includes export promotion policy; institutional framework; business environment; infrastructure; transport connectivity; access to finance; export infrastructure; trade support; R&D infrastructure; export diversification and growth orientation.

 

As the date to modify licences under the new provisions of FoSCoS is approaching, the FSSAI has issued a public notice to ask food business operators to get their licences modified before March 31.

 

The notice says that with effect from April 1, 2022, the manufacturers including repackers and relabellers, will not be allowed to file renewal applications of their existing licences and file application for modification of licence through FoSCoS (Food Safety Compliance System) portal.

 

Manufacturers including repackers and relabellers, having licences issued through old methodology (granted from FLRS-Food Licensing and Registration System) have to shift to product selection methodology under FoSCoS.

 

Also, manufacturers holding state licence for products under nutraceuticals, health supplements, special dietary and medical use food, functional food and novel food regulation, have to shift to Central licence, the notice added.

 

In December last year, the FSSAI issued an order asking the FBOs to comply with its order dated June 16, 2021, regarding mandatory modification of licence by existing FSSAI licensed manufacturers as per new methodology for standardised product selection in FoSCoS by March 31, 2022.

 

“Beyond which FBOs who do not get their licence modified/migrated, shall not be able to apply for renewal of licence,” read the December notice.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister  of Commerce and Industry ,Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles, Government of India, today announced the unveiling of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at a press conference held on 28 March 2022 during his visit to the United Arab Emirates. Shri Goyal is in UAE to participate in ‘Investopia Summit’ and ‘World Government Summit’ being held in Dubai on 28th March 2022 and 29th March 2022 respectively. With this launch, the text of the India-UAE CEPA is now available in public domain.

 

India-UAE CEPA was signed on 18 February 2022 in New Delhi during the India-UAE Virtual Summit held between His Excellency Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Chairman of the Executive Council.

 

The salient features of India-UAE CEPA are as follows:

 

The India-UAE CEPA is the first deep and full free trade Agreement to be signed by India with any country in the past decade. The Agreement is a comprehensive agreement, which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Customs Procedures, Pharmaceutical products, Government Procurement, IPR, Investment, Digital Trade and Cooperation in other Areas.

 

Impact or benefits:

 

CEPA provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries. The CEPA between India and the UAE covers almost all the tariff lines dealt in by India (11,908 tariff lines) and the UAE (7581 tariff lines) respectively. India will benefit from preferential market access provided by the UAE on over 97 % of its tariff lines which account for 99% of Indian exports to the UAE in value terms, especially for all labour-intensive sectors such as Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, leather, footwear, sports goods, plastics, furniture, agricultural and wood products, engineering products, medical devices, and Automobiles. India will also be offering preferential access to the UAE on over 90% of its tariff lines, including lines of export interest to the UAE.

 

As regards trade in services, India has offered market access to the UAE in around 100 sub-sectors, while Indian service providers will have access to around 111 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors such as ‘business services’, ‘communication services’, ‘construction and related engineering services’, ‘distribution services’, ‘educational services’, ‘environmental services’, ‘financial services’, ‘health related and social services’, ‘tourism and travel related services’, ‘recreational cultural and sporting services’ and ‘transport services’.

 

Both sides have also agreed to a separate Annex on Pharmaceuticals to facilitate access of Indian pharmaceuticals products, especially automatic registration and marketing authorisation in 90 days for products meeting specified criteria.

 

Timelines:

 

The negotiations for India-UAE CEPA were concluded in a record span of 88 days. The Agreement is expected to enter into force on 01 May 2022.

 

 Background:

 

India and the UAE enjoy excellent bilateral relations, which are deep rooted and historical, sustained and nurtured by close cultural and civilizational affinities, frequent high-level political interactions, and vibrant people to people linkages. The India-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership initiated during the visit of Prime Minister of India to UAE on 16-17 August 2015, is the cornerstone of our multi-faceted bilateral relations. 

 

Growing India-UAE economic and commercial relations contribute to the stability and strength of a rapidly diversifying and deepening bilateral relationship between the two countries. India and the UAE have been each other’s leading trading partners. These excellent bilateral economic and commercial relations have continued to enhance and deepen over time. From US$ 180 million per annum in the 1970s, India-UAE bilateral trade has steadily increased to US$ 60 billion (?4.55 lakh crore) in FY 2019-20 making the UAE, India's third largest trading partner. With exports to the UAE valued at US$ 29 billion for the year 2019-20, the UAE is also the second largest export destination of India, while Indian imports from the UAE were valued around US$ 30 billion, including 21.83 MMT (US$ 10.9 billion) of crude oil. The UAE is an important source of India’s energy supply and a key partner of India in the development of strategic petroleum reserves, upstream, and downstream petroleum sectors. 

 

The UAE is also the eight largest investor in India with an estimated investment of US$ 18 billion. Moreover, India and the UAE have recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) whereby the UAE has committed US$ 75 billion towards infrastructure development in India. Further, in October 2021, Government of Dubai signed an MoU with the Jammu and Kashmir administration for real estate development, industrial parks, IT towers, multipurpose towers, logistics, medical college, super specialty hospital and more.

 

The India-UAE CEPA will further cement the already deep, close and strategic relations between the two countries and will create new employment opportunities, raise living standards, and improve the general welfare of the peoples of the two countries.

In a move aimed at realizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Vocal for Local' with a focus on 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) on Thursday organized a two-day International Buyer Seller Meet (IBSM) at Dibrugarh. The objective of the IBSM is to promote the exports of the potential agricultural and processed food products from Assam and other north-eastern states and provide market linkage to the producers.

 

The IBSM at Dibrugarh was attended by more than 180 numbers of participants and dignitaries from the State Government, Central Government representatives, FPO, FPC, buyers and other relevant stakeholders. At the IBSM, exhibitors from across the State displayed a wide range of agricultural and horticultural products. The products on display included fresh fruits, vegetables, processed food products, black rice, red rice, maize, honey, tea spices, including organic products.

 

International buyers from countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal interacted with exporters and expressed their willingness to source agri-horti commodities from Assam. FPOs and FPCs also actively had business discussions with the exporters participated. In his welcome speech, Prabhat Kumar Bezbarua, co-chairman-NER of Indian Chamber of Commerce said that this programme would have a meaningful outcome with the international and national buyers directly interacting with the Northeast exporters and grassroots level FPCs and FPOs.

 

He said, 'To export to the international market, our farmers need to produce international quality agriculture products with a market-driven strategy.' He also appreciated the strong leadership of APEDA chairman Dr. M. Angamuthu, for his visionary leadership and special focus on the Northeast in promoting agri exports. Sunita Rai, Assistant General Manager, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) enlightened on the scope of agriculture exports from the north-eastern States. She also informed that APEDA had been providing support to the FPOs, FPCs, exporters in areas of infrastructure development, capacity building, skill development and market linkage to bring the north-eastern states in the export map. She also highlighted the fact that the Northeast was strategically located, having an international border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and China and had scope for promoting unique products of NER.

 

Rai also gave an example of Assam Lemon which is a geographically indicated product and has huge demand in the international market along with other products such as pineapple, king chilly, ginger, high cumin, turmeric etc.

 

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday stressed that it is important to ensure quality of agri produces for enabling farmers to get good prices.

 

The minister was speaking at 93rd Annual General Meeting of the ICAR Society here, according to an official statement.

 

Tomar said the Modi government is committed for the betterment of the Indian Agriculture.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always encouraged the farmers and scientists of the country to compete at the global level, he said.

 

'This has led to the steady increase in the export of agricultural products from India,' he said.

 

Ensuring the better quality of the agricultural products has always been the main concern of the prime minister, the agriculture minister said.

 

Tomar highlighted the pivotal role played by the ICAR through its research and technology development in creating the food and nutritional security in the country.

 

He underlined that the record production of the food grains and horticultural products has made India self-sufficient to meet not only the domestic demands but also exports.

 

'In terms of many agricultural products, India ranks first or second in the world and we aim to establish the quality of our products and our credibility as a trusted brand in the world,' Tomar said.

 

The Union Minister noted that quality is important for enabling the farmers to get fair prices for their products.

 

He urged the Council to start the preparations for its Centenary celebrations (in the Year - 2029) at the national and international levels.

 

Tomar said the ministry is committed to take forward the Digital Agriculture Mission, which will reduce the farmers' cost of cultivation.

The commerce ministry will extend the existing foreign trade policy (FTP) for some more months beyond March 31, Union minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday. Last year in September, the government extended the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 till March 31, 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The present policy came into force on April 1, 2015.

 

The policy provides guidelines related to imports and exports in India. The ministry announces the policy every five years.

 

'I think many events that are unfolding are making us work over time to make that policy much more contemporary and more real time, more to the needs of the new India...The existing policy will be continued for some more months,' Goyal told reporters here.

 

A separate foreign trade policy cell was created to coordinate with various officials in the formulation of the policy under the supervision of an officer of the level of joint secretary to the Government of India.

 

Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi said a notification with this effect will come in a day or two. 'It is likely to be extended by few months,' he said.

India and Australia are engaged in 'very active discussions and negotiations' for a proposed interim trade deal and are working towards its early conclusion, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday, amid speculations that the signing of the pact may be delayed.

 

Asked about the time-frame for clinching the deal, Goyal said it’s always difficult to set a deadline for such negotiations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison held virtual talks on Monday. 'They have both reiterated the commitment of both the countries for an early conclusion of the interim trade deal,' Goyal said.

 

The statement comes at a time when India is under pressure from Western nations to take a stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A senior trade executive and a diplomat said the issue might have weighed on the decision on the trade deal as well, apart from possible last-minute changes in the negotiating position. However, a senior government official ruled out any impact of the Ukraine war on the decision to delay the interim deal.

 

Just before the India-Australia virtual summit on Monday, both the sides were hoping to seal the interim deal before the end of March; some expected it to be hammered out as early as Tuesday.

 

In fact, on February 11, both the countries had announced that the interim trade pact would be signed within a month, and a broader free trade agreement, to be called the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), would be hammered out within a year of the operationalisation of the early-harvest deal.

 

Sources have told FE that India will likely allow high-end Australian wine at a concessional duty as part of the interim trade deal but keep dairy products and certain sensitive farm items out of its purview. India is expected to get duty concession in some labour-intensive sectors, including agriculture and textiles, and greater market access in pharmaceuticals.

 

India had a merchandise trade deficit of $7.2 billion with Australia in the first ten months of this fiscal. It shipped out goods worth only $6.3 billion, while its imports stood at $13.5 billion. Major traded items include mineral fuels, pharmaceutical products, organic chemicals and gem and jewellery.

 

Ukraine war could cause some disruptions

 

Goyal said the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict can potentially cause some disruptions in trade and the government is in regular talks with exporters to address any issue emerging from it. The challenges may be in the form of elevated global commodity prices, higher inflationary pressure, disruption in shipping routes and spurt in freight charges.

 

'Those challenges are there before us and that certainly may lead to some kind of disruption because it is coming along with Covid, which is also rearing its head. But we are completely on top of these issues and are in continuous dialogue and hand holding our exporters on a regular basis,' Goyal said.

 

UAE FTA to be in force in six weeks

 

Goyal said the India-UAE FTA is already ratified by Abu Dhabi and it would be in force in about six weeks. Both the countries signed the FTA last month, which was India’s first such pact in a decade.

 

FTP to be extended

 

Goyal said given the lofty level of exports and new challenges, the validity of the current foreign trade policy (FTP) could be extended for some more time. This would allow the ministry to firm up a new FTP, factoring in new global challenges as well as opportunities.

 

About the new SEZ law, Goyal said the ministry will start stakeholder consultations from April.

Turkey’s state grain board TMO has issued an international tender to purchase and import about 210,000 tonnes of milling wheat, European traders said on Monday.

 

The deadline for submission of price offers in the wheat tender is March 23.

 

Price offers can be made in Russian roubles, a move seen as assisting offers of Russian wheat, traders said. Wheat already in warehouses in Turkey can also be offered.

 

Turkey is among importers hit by disruption to Ukrainian and Russian grain exports by the continued fighting in Ukraine.

 

Wheat shipment is sought between April 1-April 30.

 

The tender continues an active period of grain importing by Turkey to cool local prices and secure supplies after a drought-damaged crop.

 

The grain is for unloading in the Turkish ports of Iskenderun, Mersin, Izmir, Bandirma, Tekirdag, Samsun and Trabzon.

At a time when countries are competing to get a bigger share of Indian wheat as supplies from the Black Sea region become uncertain due to the Ukraine-Russia war, the government has announced full state support to the exporters to make the most of the opportunity to export the grain.

 

In a virtual meeting held on Thursday, union minister for commerce, industries and food Piyush Goyal assured exporters that the railways would provide better connectivity to the ports and ensure enough availability of railway rakes for wheat exports, said people who attended the meeting.

 

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who was present in the meeting, announced that wheat exporters would get reimbursement of the mandi tax they pay in the state on the exported wheat.

 

'We will make all the facilities available to the exporters through our export cell. We will also try to help exporters with space, grading, sorting, etc., which will help increase exports from the state and help its farmers,' said Chauhan

 

He also exporters could procure wheat from anywhere in the state using one licence.

 

The people ET spoke with said the central government had decided to open more ports for wheat shipment. 'India has also allowed trade in rupees instead of in dollars with Sri Lanka, which will help boost exports,' said one of the people who did not want to be named.

 

Bhavinkumar Shah, managing director of Pratik Agro Exports, a wheat exporter from Gujarat, said: 'The government has assured us every help that will be needed to maximise wheat exports from India.'

 

Indian exporters believe this unprecedented opportunity for Indian wheat may not remain just a short-term gap-filling opportunity, but pave the way to make India a long-term reliable supplier of food to the world.

 

Allana Group director Fauzn Alavi said: 'If India can match up to the quality and credibility of the product, we can have a long-term presence in the market, war or no war. India is in a positive position as we have a huge supply of wheat, have advantage of location and freight cost when compared to other origins like Australia or Canada. This will be a great opportunity for India to make a strong footprint all over the world.'

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's visit to India on April 3-5 is expected to further strengthen the excellent bilateral cooperation in diverse areas such as agriculture, water, trade and science and technology, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. Officially announcing Bennett's visit to India, the MEA said the Israeli PM will undertake the three-day visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

The two leaders had earlier met on the sidelines of COP 26 in Glasgow in November 2021, and also had a telephonic conversation on August 16, 2021, the MEA statement noted.

 

The visit by Bennett would be his first to India in his capacity as prime minister.

 

This visit would take place on the occasion of the commemoration of 30 years of full diplomatic relations between India and Israel and 75 years of India's independence.

 

India and Israel elevated their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership during the historic visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel in July 2017, the statement noted.

 

Since then, the two countries have continued to deepen their strategic partnership, with a focus on innovation and research as two knowledge-based economies.

 

The visit by the Israeli PM is expected to further strengthen our excellent bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, including in agriculture, water, trade, education and science and technology, the statement said.

 

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Bennett had said that he will be visiting India in the first week of April to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

 

'I am delighted to pay my first official visit to India at the invitation of my friend, Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, and together we will continue leading the way for our countries' relations,' Bennett had said.

 

'Modi restarted relations between India and Israel, and this is of historic importance. The relations between our two unique cultures, Indian culture and the Jewish culture, are deep, and they rely on deep appreciation and meaningful collaborations,' he had said.

 

'There are many things we can learn from the Indians, and this is what we strive to do,' Bennett said, pledging to expand cooperation 'to other areas, from innovation and technology, security and cyber, to agriculture and climate change.