13-Feb-2020: Organic Food Segment grows at a CAGR of 10% during 2016-20
With an aim to empower women and promote organic produce, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is organizing a National Organic Festival with a special focus on women entrepreneurs, said Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries(FPI). Announcing the 3-day long Food festival, during a press meet in New Delhi today, FPI Minister shared that more than 150 women Entrepreneurs and Self Help groups (SHG’s) from all over the country will be exhibiting their organic products in various segments such as fruit & vegetables, ready to eat Products, Spices and condiments, Honey, cereals, dry fruits etc.. Smt. Pushpa Subrahmanyam, Secretary in the Ministry was also present.
In order to boost the organic products and promote women entrepreneurship in the area of production and processing of organic products, the MoFPI and Ministry of Women and Child Development (Mo WCD) have joined hands for organising a three-day festival from February 21-23, 2020 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
The festival cum exhibition that is being held under the theme “Unleashing India’s Organic Market Potential” will be inaugurated by Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries. Women entrepreneurs and SHGs from all over the country will be exhibiting their organic products in various segments such as fruit & vegetable, ready-to-eat products, spices and condiments, honey, cereals, dry fruits, beverages, medicinal plants, oil and value-added products like jam, jelly, murabba, chutney etc. Entrepreneurs and SHGs from 24 states are participating in the festival.
Apart from showcasing the organic products, the event will focus on facilitating business linkages and empowering women entrepreneurs through pre-arranged B2B and B2G meetings. Other softer elements of the exhibition will include, organic food quiz, live culinary sessions, Chef speaks, cultural events, nukkad natak etc.
Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal shared that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) have recently signed an MoU to help women entrepreneurs get connected with Government financial schemes like MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency), Startup India and also meet the compliance needed for being competitive in the global market.
Skill development capacity building training programs for women entrepreneurs and SHGs will be organized to facilitate post-harvest management, value addition and new innovations towards enhancing production efficiency as well to impart comprehensive knowledge about various aspects of the supply chain of organic products. Training on packaging, marketing and innovations on renewable energy will also be imparted to help the producers cater to a broader consumer base. Training on organic certification and FSSAI regulations will be organized as well to familiarize producers with the regulatory processes.
Awareness sessions for consumers on benefits of incorporating organic in daily diet will be held. Also, success stories of entrepreneurs will be highlighted in an exclusive segment. For facilitating business linkages and empowering women entrepreneurs through financial inclusion pre-arranged B2B and B2G meeting will be organized during the exhibition, said the Union Minister.
Talking about the benefits of the Organic food, Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal said: "How your food is grown or raised can have a major impact on your mental and emotional health as well as the environment. Organic foods often have much more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, than their conventionally-grown counterparts”
India’s Organic Market Potential
With 9th largest World’s Organic Agricultural land and largest number of producers India is fast growing in the organic food segment. India produced around 1.70 million MT (2017-18) of certified organic products which includes all varieties of food products namely Oil Seeds, Sugar cane, Cereals & Millets, Cotton, Pulses, Medicinal Plants, Tea, Fruits, Spices, Dry Fruits, Vegetables, Coffee etc.
On the demand side, increasing disposable incomes, increasing awareness around health and wellness and increasing acceptability are driving the growth in the organic food segment which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% during the period 2016-21.
At the same time the demand for Indian organic food products is on constant increase worldwide with India exporting organic products worth $ 515 million in 2017-18 with organic products being exported to USA, European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Israel, South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand, Japan etc. The major demands under the organic product category are for oil seeds, cereals & millets, sugar, fruit juice concentrates, tea, spices, pulses, dry fruits, medicinal plant products etc.
As per the Indian Organic Sector – Vision 2025 report, India’s organic business has immense potential to reach the INR 75,000 crore mark by 2025 from INR 2,700 crore (in 2015).
6-Feb-2020: India to study air corridors for trade with Central Asian countries
The External Affairs Minister has said that, apart from developing trade via the Chabahar port in Iran, India would like to explore setting up “air corridors” between India and five Central Asian nations.
The air corridors — similar to what India established in 2018 with Afghanistan — would include regular cargo flights with special clearing and customs facilities to expedite the movement of goods, especially fresh fruit and other agricultural produce. The air corridors are currently being discussed. The India Central Asia Business Council has brought together Indian businessmen and diplomats from five Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The India Central Asia Business Council is being set up by the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
It is believed that it is a matter of concern that a lack of overland connectivity (a reference to barriers to transit trade through Pakistan) has kept the total trade between India and Central Asia quite low at approximately $2 billion per year. India has made progress in overcoming this challenge through the Chabahar route. India, Iran and Afghanistan believe that Chabahar will become the fulcrum of connectivity for Indian goods to reach Afghanistan and further north to Central Asian states, and for the landlocked Central Asia to find access to the ocean through this port.
Union budget 2020-21 has announced a Rs. 100 crore investment to develop the Iranian port. While flying time from Delhi for most of the Central Asian destinations is two hours, it may take two months for containers sent overland from India to reach these places.
The availability of air corridors can boost trade in perishable goods, agricultural and food products.
At present, most of the trade between Central Asia goes via Bandar Abbas in Iran, northern Europe or China. In recent years, the government has been seeking to develop more direct routes from Chabahar, a trilateral arrangement with Iran and Afghanistan, the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and becoming a part the Ashgabat Agreement. However, the rail-link between Chabahar and the crossover into Afghanistan is yet to be developed, which would be an important part of growing regular trade.
Apart from connectivity, visa procedures need to be streamlined further in order to grow services, especially medical tourism that brings hundreds of patients from Central Asia to India each year. Efforts are needed to further boost trade in energy, agro and food processing, tourism and pharmaceuticals.
15-Jan-2020: No Imports in ‘Others’ Category without HSN Code
No imports will be allowed without HSN code into the country said the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, Piyush Goyal in New Delhi. He was speaking at the 6th National Standards Conclave on the subject of Standards for Trade Facilitation.
Commerce & Industry Minister further said that henceforth there must be zero tolerance for substandard products and services from industry and consumers. He further stated that Government will support industry in every way to establish standards for Indian goods and services to meet international requirements so that brand India is recognized in the world as a provider of quality products and services. Unless Indian business and industry make standards its calling card, India will not be able to reach the target of a USD 5 trillion economy. The Government is committed to establishing standards of Indian products and services to world class levels which will enable our exports to be accepted globally due to the quality of goods and services. He said Made in India should carry the commitment of 130 crore people towards quality, sincerity, customer satisfaction and not be second best.
Commerce and Industry Minister further said that it is an unfortunate reality for India that the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) entered into with other countries has not led to the growth of India’s trade and business because the poor quality of the products and services that get restricted with non-tariff barriers when exported. He further elaborated on this point with the number of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) in countries like US (8000), Brazil (3879), China (2872) and India with only 439 TBTs. This illustrates the fact as to the manner in which India and rest of the world are looking at the concept of quality in products and services.
Commerce and Industry Minister further stated that the time has come to get out of the mind set of subsiding exports and adopt the mantra of zero defect zero effect in order to ensure that emerging India will be the destination for quality products and services. He said that the need of the hour is to get cracking towards a zero defect policy, that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has articulated a number of times. The Minister said that the quality standards must be accepted as the reality of an emerging India, an India that wishes to be recognised as a country manufacturing quality products.
Commerce and Industry Minister informed that the new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act is relooking at all standards for goods and services in order to balance the interest of consumers with that of the industry which will enable the culture of quality to take root in the country and production or import of substandard products and services will not be tolerated any longer.
Commerce and Industry Minister urged BIS, FSSAI and other departments of the Government, that are mandated to set up and establish standards, to work in mission mode so that goods and services produced and imported in India meet international quality requirements. This will help India to engage with the world on equal and reciprocal terms.
Commerce and Industry Minister hoped that this will see a new era of quality production of goods and services in the country and quality will be the buzzword and the collaborative approach of Government, industry and consumer will help in setting up and upgrading standards to give the best products and services to the consumers and also ensure the protection of the environment.
The 6th National Standards Conclave is being held in Delhi on 15-16 January 2020 and is organized by Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Export Inspection Council of India (EIC), National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and the Centre for Research on International Trade.