India is looking at mutual recognition of food certification system with Canada for seamless export and import of edibles, keeping in view the growing Indian diaspora in the North American country, people familiar with the matter said.

 

Last month, an Indian delegation led by representatives from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) — country’s apex food regulator — took part in the 47th session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling in Québec, Canada.

 

The delegation met Indian high commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma to facilitate the initiative.

 

'…a discussion took place on wide issues ranging from harmonisation with the Codex standards to import and export of food items, with an emphasis on the export of traditional food products, keeping in mind the sizeable and growing Indian population in Canada,' FSSAI said in a statement on May 25.

 

'He [high commissioner] is likely to meet the President of CFIA [Canadian Food Inspection Agency] soon to discuss about the mutual recognition of food certification system to improve the export of Indian Food products to Canada… also emphasised on the mutual recognition of few of the Food Testing Laboratories in India and Canada for facilitating trade of food products,' it added.

 

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is an international food standards body established jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) — both agencies of the United Nations — in 1963 with the objective of protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in food trade.

 

The core Codex texts typically deal with hygienic practice, labelling, contaminants, additives, inspection and certification, nutrition and residues of veterinary drugs and pesticides, and apply horizontally to products and product categories.

 

Among the areas being considered for exports from India include standards related to food labelling norms, use of new technologies in labelling, labelling of food allergens, labelling for e-commerce, according to the top food regulator.

 

Previously, India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Canada for the mutual recognition of food labs in both the countries. India has been working on putting in place measures to ensure food safety standards are maintained effectively.

 

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday inaugurated the state-of-the-art National Training Centre (NTC) for the top food regulator.

 

'Good quality nutritious food can go a long way in keeping diseases at bay. The people who will train at the National Training Centre of FSSAI will play a significant role in creating healthy citizens in the country, as they will ensure quality standards for food are followed in the country,' he said.

 

According to the health ministry, NTC aims at providing structured instruction, practice, and learning experiences to bridge the gap between existing knowledge or skills and desired knowledge or skills in the field of food safety and standards.

 

As mandated by the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and the Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011, FSSAI is responsible for providing training to individuals involved in food businesses, including operators, employees, food safety officers and designated officers.

 

'Recognising the importance of continuous skill upgrading for officials, food business operators, and other stakeholders, FSSAI has established the National Training Centre to offer various training programmes,' the ministry said in a statement. 'This dedicated centre fills the void that previously existed, ensuring the development of a future-ready workforce committed to ensuring safe and wholesome food for the citizens of India.'

 

Dairy farmers and their families committed themselves towards making India the ‘Dairy of the World’ on the occasion of World Milk Day saying that the only way forward to alleviate rural India from poverty and bring about socio-economic change is by working towards establishing the country as the global leader in the dairy sector.

 

On the occasion, the dairy farmers members of 22 milk producer companies (farmer producer organisations) came together and committed themselves to make India ‘Dairy of the World’ by increasing the country’s share of the total global production; ‘provide quality milk and milk products to consumers by sourcing milk even from the remotest part of the country’; provide a competitive price to farmer members through a fair and transparent process of milk collection and making payments in their respective bank accounts and increase milk productivity through breed improvement programmes and better animal management practices.

 

Speaking at the occasion, Meenesh Shah, Chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) said, 'The world dairying community only months back paid rich tributes to rural India and dairy farmers at the World Dairy Summit 2022. We are part of this proud community of milk producers and are working on numerous initiatives for enhancing production and productivity in India towards making India the dairy of the world.'

 

During the World Milk Day celebrations, from distant Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to coastal Gujarat to spreads of Rajasthan to the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the dairy farmers took the pledge and thanked the government for outlining the way forward by giving them a cherished goal of making the country a global leader to attain the target of 33 per cent market share in the decade to come.

 

It is pertinent to note that India’s collective drive towards ‘Dairy of the World’ has women empowerment ingrained into it, as out of 22 milk producer companies (MPCs) supported by NDDB Dairy Services (NDS), 15 have all-women membership and all the producer directors’ on their Boards too are women. These 22 MPCs spread across 130 districts in nine states of the country, have 8.7 lakh members and 71 per cent of them are women.

An inter-ministerial consultation is going on for formulation of a new industrial policy, which would aim at building a globally competitive business environment to increase manufacturing and exports, a top government official has said. This would be the third industrial policy after the first in 1956 and the second in 1991.

 

It is likely to replace the industrial policy of 1991 which was prepared against the backdrop of the balance of payment crisis.

 

'The policy is in the process of inter-ministerial consultation...It will focus on newer set of industries that has now come,' Secretary in Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Rajesh Kumar Singh told PTI.

 

The proposed policy is likely to suggest reforms to foster and create a globally progressive, innovative and competitive industrial ecosystem.

 

The six core objectives of the policy may include focus on competitiveness and capability; economic integration and moving up the global value chain; promoting India as an attractive investment destination in the world; nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship; and circular and sustainable ecosystem.

 

After the completion of the consultations, the department is likely to approach the Union Cabinet for its approval.

 

When asked about the progress on revising Wholesale Price Index (WPI) base year from 2011-12 to 2017-18, Singh said it is also in the process of inter-ministerial consultation.

 

Revising the base year would help in presenting a more realistic picture of the price situation in the country.

 

The department in June 2021 had issued a draft technical report of a working group, which suggested revising the base year and addition of about 480 items such as medicinal plants, pen drive, lifts, gymnasium equipment, and certain motorcycle engines in the new series.

 

At present, the index has a total of 697 items, including primary articles (117), fuel and power (16) and manufactured products (564).

 

WPI revision is a periodic exercise. The current revision process of WPI base year has been undertaken to incorporate the structural changes in the economy.

 

Two major indices are used for tracking price movement -- Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI).

 

While WPI measures price movement of goods in wholesale markets, the CPI tracks inflation at the retail level and also includes certain services.

 

Ever since the introduction of WPI in 1942 with base year 1939, seven revisions have taken place introducing new base years - 1952-53, 1961-62, 1970-71, 1981-82, 1993-94, 2004-05 and 2011-12.

 

The current WPI base year 2011-12 series was launched in May 2017.

Negotiations for the Supply Chains (Pillar-II) Agreement were substantially concluded during the second in-person Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting held in Detroit on 27 May 2023, hosted by the US.

 

Once implemented, the Supply Chain Agreement is expected to bring in a number of benefits to India and the other IPEF partner countries. Some of the key benefits expected are: potential shift of production centres in key goods/critical sectors to India; bolstering of domestic manufacturing capacities; giving a boost to Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Production Linked Initiatives schemes; mobilization of investments especially in production of key goods, logistics services and infrastructure; deeper integration of India in the Global Supply and Value Chains particularly of Indian MSMEs; enhanced exports from India; upward mobility in the value chains; mitigation of risks of economic disruptions to India from supply chain shocks/adverse events; creation of a seamless regional trade ecosystem facilitating flow of Indian products; enhanced trade facilitation including through digital exchange of trade documentation, quicker port clearances; joint Research and Development; and workforce development. 

 

India and other partner countries will continue to engage to ensure effective implementation of the Agreement so as to achieve the overall objectives of the Agreement which is to make IPEF supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated, and contribute towards economic development and progress of the region as a whole.

 

The IPEF Supply Chains (Pillar-II) Agreement is one of the fastest ever concluded plurilateral economic cooperation Agreements. Under this Agreement, IPEF partner countries are seeking to: make supply chains more resilient, robust, and well-integrated through crisis response measures; cooperation for mitigation of the effect of disruptions to better ensure business continuity, and improve logistics and connectivity; promoting investments particularly in critical sectors and production of key goods; and worker role enhancement through requisite upskilling and reskilling, and increasing comparability of skills credentials frameworks across IPEF. It entails cooperative and collaborative efforts among the IPEF partners.

 

Karnataka Agriculture Minister Chaluvarayaswamy announced on May 30 that similar to Nandini stalls across the state, vegetable stalls will also be introduced. Called Amrutha Malige (Amrita Shops), these will sell the local farmers' produce and will come up next to the Nandini stalls.

 

While Nandini stalls sell dairy products, Amrutha Malige will sell vegetables. He told the media that a pilot project of two stalls had been carried out and following its success, this will now be implemented in all the districts of Karnataka.

 

AGRICULTURE POSTS TO BE FILLED

Chaluvarayaswamy also told the media that there were about 58% of posts in the agriculture department that were lying vacant. The government will now decide whether to hire permanent employees or employees on contract to fill these posts. There were 8,982 posts in the agriculture department and about 5,195 posts are lying vacant.

 

The minister added that there had been a delay in informing farmers about the programmes of the agriculture department as there are more than 3000 posts vacant.

 

MEET FARMERS' NEEDS FOR SOWING SEASON

The agriculture minister has also directed his department to ensure that all the farmers' needs are met before the sowing season. He stated that quality seeds, fertilisers and other items would be made available to farmers before the sowing season.

Indian mills have shipped out the entire 6.1 million tonnes of sugar allowed for exports, industry officials told Reuters, cashing in on multi-year high prices in the world market and robust demand.

 

The world's second-biggest producer of the sweetener is, however, unlikely to allow additional exports in the current marketing year ending on Sept. 30, due to a likely drop in production.

 

This could lift global prices , and allow top producer Brazil to sell more sugar on the world market.

 

'The mills have shipped the entire allocated quantity, and nothing has left since global prices became attractive,' Prakash Naiknavare, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd, told Reuters.

 

Mills were getting more than 50,000 rupees ($604.6) per tonne from the overseas sale against the local price of 36,500 rupees, dealers said.

 

A rumour earlier this month that India could ban exports prompted mills to accelerate the remaining shipments, he said.

 

The country exported a record 11 million tonnes of sugar in the previous 2021-2022 season, but New Delhi allowed exports of only 6.1 million tonnes in the current year due to an expected drop in production.

 

Production is likely to fall to 32.8 million tonnes in the current year, from a record 35.8 million tonnes in the previous season.

 

The drop in the production has closed the window of additional exports, which mills were seeking earlier, said a senior industry official, who declined to be named.

 

'We are now not demanding the government to allow more exports in the current season. We know it's not possible,' he said.

 

India mainly exports sugar to Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sudan, Somalia and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Asian and African buyers have shifted to Brazil from India as the south American country has ample surplus for exports, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house.

Sri Lanka will import one million eggs daily from five chicken farms in India to meet its growing market demand, the crisis-hit island nation's top importing agency said on Tuesday.

 

Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation (STC) Chairman Asiri Valisundara said that 20 million eggs were imported from India, of which 10 million have been released to the market.

 

The eggs were being imported from two chicken farms in India, and the Animal Production Department has additionally approved the purchase of eggs from three other farms, Valisundara was quoted as saying by the Colombo Page news portal.

 

STC Chairman Walisundara said it has been decided to import one million eggs daily from five chicken farms in India.

 

He said that permission was received to import eggs from three more farms according to the report given by the three officials of the Animal Production Department and the State Trading Corporation who visited poultry farms in India.

 

The further import of eggs is based on market demand, Valisundara said, the News First TV station reported.

 

He added that the imported eggs would be released to bakeries, biscuit manufacturers, catering services and restaurants at a price of SLR 35 each, the report said.

 

Sri Lanka has been facing a severe and unprecedented economic crisis since last year. The high inflation has eroded purchasing power, and the livelihoods of many people have been affected, and past development gains have been reversed. The island nation is struggling to normalise its crisis-hit economy after it declared its first-ever debt default in April last year.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the food regulator of India under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, may soon issue guidelines on ready-to-eat food sold in plastic wrap. These guidelines will aim to ensure the sellers are maintaining the quality of food that is sold without any information on its wrapper.

 

According to the new guidelines, shops will have to provide customers with all information regarding the product, such as its expiration date, from where it has been sourced, and all other details that are mentioned on packaged food.

 

The plastic wrap on the food should be food-grade.

 

According to the Zee Business report, the authorities are looking into creating a process that will help shopkeepers determine the best-before date of the product.

 

Recently, FSSAI had also taken action against Bournvita after concerns about various health claims made by food business operators, a person or company responsible for running a food business, in the country. 

 

In order to regulate the advertisement and claims on food products by food business operators (FBOs), FSSAI has notified a regulation, the Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements and Claims) Regulations, 2018, under which deceptive claims or advertisements are prohibited and are punishable offences under Section 53 of the FSS Act, 2006.

 

In reference to misleading promises made by companies, the FSSAI said any nutrient function claims and other functional claims made on food products should be based on current and relevant scientific evidence.

Agricultural products trade through the electronic-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) surged 41% to 18.6 million tonnes in 2022-23 from 13.2 million tonnes in the previous financial year.

 

'Several innovative products have started trading through these mandis,' said a senior official, who did not wish to be identified, adding that several products such as silk cocoons, saffron and bamboo are being sold on the platform.

 

In terms of value, agricultural products trade through the e-NAM platform increased 32% to Rs.74,656 crore from Rs.56,497 crore in 2021-22.

 

The trade between interstate mandis increased 36% to 2,36,140 metric tonnes in 2022-23 from 1,74,268 metric tonnes in the previous year. It was worth Rs.2.41 crore, up 117% from last year's Rs.1.11 crore.

 

As on November 30, 2022, 1,260 mandis of 22 states and three Union Territories (UTs) have been integrated with the e-NAM platform. The government has been working on more interstate mandis with the e-NAM to promote trade between mandis located across the country.

 

The states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, and the UTs using the facility are Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Puducherry.

 

The e-NAM, launched in April 2016, is being implemented by the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium, a central government agency, with the support of state governments.

ICAR- Indian Institute  of Horticulture Research (IIHR) BESST-HORT (Business Entrepreneurship and Start-up Support through Technology in Horticulture) has spotted promising potential for entrepreneurs interested in starting micro food enterprises, start-ups, self help groups (SHGs), homemakers and students.

 

In order to give them a platform to meet, BESST-HORT is organising a 3-day hands-on training programme on ‘Production of Fruit & Vegetable Powder’  from June 20- 22, 2023 at the ICAR-IIHR, Hesaraghatta Lake, Bengaluru. The training programme will include theory, practicals, demonstration & discussion.

 

The last date to receive applications is June 17. The objective of the training is to provide detailed information about the scope of fruit and vegetable powders, their nutritional quality and packaging. There platform will provide hands-on training on production of moringa, tomato, onion and banana flour and value-add the preparation. This is especially at a time when there is excess production in the market and fall in price of these fruits and vegetables, stated Dr MV Dhananjaya who is the course coordinator along with Dr Venkatt Kumar and others from the BESST-HORT team.

 

Now BESST-HORT is a technology business incubator of ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticulture. The training will also guide on the licensing requirements and detailed project report preparation, besides provide information on various schemes launched by the government.

 

The training according to the organisers will help to improve the working knowledge of fruits and vegetables drying especially moringa, tomato and banana flour. The training will help to network and offer a first-hand information to the participants on the viable marketing avenues.

 

'We will also provide incubation centres for the prospective entrepreneurs and hand-hold them to take off the business.  The charges for this training are Rs 7,500 per participant, registration of the participants is compulsory and including accommodation, food and certifications,' said the organisers.

 

While the course director is Dr Bhuvaneswari S, the course co-directors are Dr CK Narayana, Dr Pushpa Chetan Kumar and Dr Preethi P.

 

According to Dr Dhananjaya, the use of fruit and vegetable powders is key to fortification of ragi, wheat and rice powders used in the preparation of items for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. There is a need for added nutrition to the end product and this is seen to catch up across food business.

 

'In fact such new thinking possibilities allow us at ICAR- IIHR and BESST-HORT to help explore avenues for new business opportunities to be explored by the food entrepreneurs. Such value-addition will strengthen the product development and give entrepreneurs the ability to have an edge in the market with their offerings,' stated Dr Dhananjaya while speaking to FnB News.