India does not plan to import wheat and its farmers are likely to harvest a bumper crop that will boost stockpiles in the world's second-biggest producer of the staple, the trade minister said on Saturday.

 

'Ground reports indicate that the crop is quite good and this year's production is expected at a record 114 million metric tons,' Piyush Goyal told reporters.

 

India banned wheat exports in 2022 after output was curtailed due to a heat wave, but more recently overseas sales picked up as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent global prices to multi-year highs.

 

The government has sold around 6 million metric tons of wheat to local bulk buyers since June. 1, when the state-run Food Corporation of India started selling the grain from its warehouses.

 

Despite selling wheat from its granaries, inventories at state warehouses are likely to remain above the target of 7.46 million metric tons fixed for April 1, when a new marketing year starts, a top government official said earlier this month.

 

The country's wheat stocks at state warehouses stood at 16.47 million metric tons as of Jan. 1, the lowest since 2017.

 

Goyal said India would for now continue with its export curbs on wheat, rice and sugar.

 

'We are committed to protecting both consumers' and farmers' interests,' he said.

 

India, also the world's second-biggest rice producer, last year banned overseas shipments of non-basmati white rice. And New Delhi has also stopped mills from exporting sugar this year.

 

Goyal also said his government has no immediate plans to allow duty-free imports of corn - also known as maize in India - turning down the poultry industry's demands.

 

'Farmers will plant more maize this year,' he said.

Various buyers and importers of food products convened at the International Conclave Cum Buyer Seller Meet for Organic Products, organised by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in Dehradun on Friday. Stakeholders from seven countries including Russia, Hong Kong, UAE, Uganda, Lebanon, Belarus, and Spain participated in the event, underscoring the growing global interest in Uttarakhand's organic produce.

APEDA chairman, Abhishek Dev, emphasised the need to promote organic products in response to their increasing global demand.

He said, 'There is a massive opportunity presented by the $147 billion global organic food market.' 

 

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Faced with 66 per cent decline in organic exports from Uttarakhand in 2022-23, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and the state government have chalked out plans to promote products to boost shipments. The state is all set to set up mandis for organic produce so that once 50 per cent area target under organic is achieved by 2025, farmers will not face any hurdles in marketing their products.

 

Organic exports from Uttarakhand slid to 97 tonnes worth Rs.4.2 crore ($0.5 million) in 2022-23 from 285 tonnes worth Rs.11.6 crore ($1.7 million) in 2021-22.

 

Releasing a report prepared by Yes Bank on strategies to boost organic exports from Uttarakhand, APEDA Chairman Abhishek Dev said that a similar report for Sikkim will be unveiled next month. The state government has agreed in principle to implement the suggestions of the report after a buyer-seller meet organised by APEDA in Dehradun on January 12.

 

Dev said though medicinal plant products, pulses and cereals were the largest contributors, together capturing about 90 per cent of the export volumes, there are several other products like jaggery, vegetables and essential oils which have great potential in the export market.

 

In the buyer-seller meet last week, two consignments of one tonne, each of fresh vegetables were flagged off to the United Kingdom and Bahrain. Even some deals with buyers from Lebanon were completed during the meeting itself, said Vinita Sudhanshu, DGM, APEDA.

According to the report, the decline in organic export from the state was due to an overall economic downturn in the global economy, majorly in the developed import markets. Besides, delisting of four to five certification bodies by the European Union for categories ‘D’ and ‘A’ following detection of Ethylene Oxide (ETO) in consignments of organic products has also affected.

 

Due to detection of ETO and residues above maximum permissible limit (MRL), EU has placed certain products under high risk category and has also added mandatory testing requirements, adversely affecting the trade.

 

Further, there is no progress made after withdrawal of conformity assessment recognition by USDA’s national organic program (NOP) in January 2021. The moratorium of 18 months also ended in June 2022. Earlier the US was recognising APEDA’s National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) under which approved certification agencies were issuing organic certification.

 

Dev said discussion with the US has been continuing and in the interim it has recognised 10 agencies including an Indian company OneCert International to carry out certification, on basis of which Indian consignments are accepted in the US. He also said that once the Uttarakhand State Organic Certification Agency (USOCA), the oldest government organic certification body in India, receives approval from USDA NOP, it will help boost shipments from Uttarakhand.

Yes Bank study has also identified some supply side issues including increase in certification costs, logistics issues and pest damage to crops like amaranth and rajma that affected exports adversely last year.

 

Uddham Singh Nagar and Haridwar districts (both in plain region) together alone account for over 90 per cent of the total fertilizer consumption in the state. Similarly, the state accounts for only 0.2 per cent of total chemical pesticides used in the country.

 

In 2022-23, Uttarakhand’s organic area (under NPOP) increased to 1.05 lakh hectares, of which six per cent was under wild cultivation as against 41,000 hectares in 2018-19. In 2022-23, the organic production was 43,900 tonnes and additional 106 tonnes of organic produce were collected from wild areas, taking the total to over 44,000 tonnes.

A lot of issues are on the table as India and US go to talks at the 14th Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meet in New Delhi starting January 12. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is on a three-day visit to India for this meeting.

 

Tai and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will co-chair the meeting.

 

On India's agenda are a number of key issues that include a social security pact, US audit of Indian pharma players, etc.

 

Other issues to be raised by India are: a) delay in visa; b) increasing exports of table grapes, pharma goods, and marine products such as wild caught fish and shrimp; c) reinstating the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) status to India; d) export control regulations for high-tech products and technologies; more access for Indian mangoes to the American market, etc.

 

The two prime issues that will dominate the discussions this time are the social security pact and USFDA drug inspections in India, news agency PTI reported.

 

Social security pact

The Social security pact is also called a totalisation agreement. It is one of India's long-pending demands. When in place, it will give social security to Indian professionals working in the US. Under the provisions of the pact, dual social security deduction -- both in the home country and in the nation where an individual works -- will be done away with.

 

Essentially,'an expatriate in either country need not contribute to the social security scheme of the host country,' PTI reported citing the proposed agreement.

 

It will significantly benefit a large number of Indians, especially techies working in America. These individuals pay social security there, but are not able to get any benefit out of it.

 

India has already provided the other side with all the required info on this, PTI said quoting an official. This include data from different social security schemes like Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), New Pension Scheme (NPS), and Employees' State Insurance Corporation.

 

USFDA inspections of Indian pharma

Also on the table is a proposal to fast-track USFDA's inspections of Indian pharmaceutical companies.

 

The nod from USFDA is a must for any company to sell medicines in the US. Under a standard procedure, American inspectors check drug manufacturing units' facilities to ensure quality.

 

As per the official quoted by PTI, India wants a fast-tracking of these audits through digital or physical means as as to take them to pre-Covid levels.

 

America is India's largest pharma export market. According to latest available data (which is for April-February 2023), India's pharma exports to the US stood at $6.79 billion -- almost 30% of India's pharma sales globally.

 

Covid had wrecked this inspection process, leading to a huge backlog. That has badly hit approvals and renewals of medicines and factories.

 

TPF and the state of India-US trade

The TPF platform is used by the two sides to find solutions to issues arising in bilateral trade and investment matters. The TPF has five focus groups -- agriculture, investment, innovation, and creativity (intellectual property rights), services, and tariff and non-tariff barriers.

 

America is India's biggest trade partner, accounting for nearly 20% of India's total exports in goods. Besides, it is a major market for Indian services sectors, including IT.

 

The total size of India-US total bilateral trade rose to $129.4 billion as of 2022-23, from $120 billion a year earlier. Also, FDI to India from the US reached $6 billion in 2022-23.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10, Downing Street in London on Wednesday. During the meeting, Sunak expressed hope that the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) could be brought to a successful conclusion soon.

 

Rajnath Singh and Rishi Sunak agreed on the need for the two nations to work together in trade, defence and technology sectors, Ministry of Defence said in a press release. He expressed the keenness of the UK government to strengthen defence and security pillars of the bilateral partnership.

 

Notably, India and the UK are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Talks for FTA between India and the UK started in 2022. The thirteenth round of negotiations for the UK-India Free Trade Agreement concluded in December, with both sides resolving that they would continue to negotiate towards a comprehensive and ambitious trade pact.

 

'Prime Minister Sunak fully agreed with the Raksha Mantri on the need for UK and India to work in the domains of trade, defence and technology. In particular, he expressed hope that the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations could be brought to a successful conclusion soon,' Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

 

'He also underlined his keenness, and that of his Government, to strengthen the defence and security pillar of the bilateral relationship, including through Government backing for stronger business and technology partnerships with Indian counterpart entities,' it added.

 

The meeting between the two leaders was 'warm and cordial,' according to the press release. During the meeting, Rajnath Singh highlighted that both nations have made significant strides in moulding and recrafting the historic ties into a modern, multifaceted and mutually beneficial partnership, under the direction of the leaders of both nations.

 

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recalled the recent enhancement in bilateral defence engagement, spanning joint exercises, training, capability building, increased interoperability, military-to-military ties especially in the maritime sector.

 

He emphasised the ongoing efforts to enhance defence industrial cooperation, including in the technology domain. Rajnath briefed Rishi Sunak about his positive interactions with the UK defence industry and the new positive energy in the bilateral defence relationship.

 

'The Raksha Mantri stated that the UK and other like-minded countries should work with India for strengthening a peaceful and stable global rules-based order, including through partnering India in its inexorable rise, which can be strengthened, reinforced and speeded up with friendly collaboration,' Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

 

During the meeting, Rajnath Singh gifted a Ram Darbar statue to Rishi Sunak. The meeting was also attended by the UK National Security Adviser, Tim Barrow. During the meeting, he stated that PM Narendra Modi is leading the quest of 1.4 billion Indians towards the national objective of becoming a developed nation by mid-21st century.

 

In the meeting with Rishi Sunak, Singh noted that PM Modi's 'efforts have borne remarkable fruits, growth is sustainably on the upswing, poverty has been reduced drastically, and a business-friendly architecture has been put in place.' He expressed the readiness of the Indian government at the international level to partner with friends like the UK to strengthen the rules-based world order.

 

In a post shared on X, Rajnath Singh stated, 'Had a very warm meeting with the UK Prime Minister, Shri @rishisunak in London. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him. We discussed issues pertaining to defence, economic cooperation and how India and UK could work together for strengthening a peaceful and stable global rules-based order.'

 

Currently, Rajnath Singh is on an official visit to UK. It is the first visit by a sitting Indian Defence Minister to the UK in more than 20 years.

 

Earlier, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held 'insightful deliberations' with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron on boosting ties between the two nations.

 

Taking to X, Rajnath Singh stated, 'Insightful deliberations with the UK Foreign Secretary, Mr. David Cameron on boosting India-UK ties and deepening cooperation between both the countries.'

 

The India-UAE Business Summit was held on 10th January 2024 to strengthen bilateral ties between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024.

 

UAE’s President His Highness (H.H.) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the chief guest at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024, further emphasising the growing cooperation and strengthening relations between the two nations. The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, extended a warm welcome to H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and remarked that India cherishes his thoughts and efforts to boost India-UAE ties.

 

The Inaugural Session of the India-UAE Business Summit included keynote addresses from Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles (India) and His Excellency (H.E.) Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economy (UAE) along with special remarks from Shri Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat.

 

Shri Piyush Goyal, H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, and Shri Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel ceremonially launched the UAE – India CEPA Council (UICC) website as part of the inaugural session. The session also highlighted India’s booming startup landscape and included remarks from Shri Kunal Bahl, Chairman - Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Startup Council and Co-founder - Snapdeal and Titan Capital.

 

A report on the CII India-UAE Start-Up Initiative titled “Unlocking Opportunities: India- UAE Start-Up Ecosystem Convergence” was also launched during the summit. The inaugural session was chaired by Shri R Dinesh, President, CII and Chairman, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Limited and included addresses from H.E. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chief Executive Officer - DP World, and M.A. Yusuff Ali, Chairman Lulu Group International, who mentioned their interest in increasing investment in the food processing industry in India.

 

The India-UAE Business Summit also facilitated a focused discussion session for further cooperation in areas such as trade finance, investment facilitation, and sectoral collaboration. The Indian and the UAE delegations comprised of representatives from both the Government and the industry. The session included a presentation on the Bharat Mart which is a proposed warehousing facility by India in the UAE to support Indian exporters.

 

India-UAE trade rose to USD 85 billion in 2022, making the UAE India’s third-largest trading partner for the year 2022-23 and India's second-largest export destination. In February 2022, India became the first country with which the UAE signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Bilateral trade has increased by approximately 15% since the entry into force of the CEPA on 1 May 2022.

 

The CEPA was a landmark agreement designed to spark a new era of cooperation between two nations and strengthening the long-standing cultural, political and economic ties. It has helped reduce tariffs on more than 80% of product lines, eliminate barriers to trade and create new pathways for investment and joint ventures. In the first 12 months of the CEPA, bilateral non-oil trade reached US$50.5 billion, representing a growth of 5.8% compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. The two countries are fast moving towards the target of US$100 billion non-oil trade by 2030.

 

 A Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a framework to promote the use of local currencies (INR-AED) for cross-border transactions was signed by Governors of the respective Central Banks of India and the UAE in July 2023. Developing the Local Currency Settlement System between the two countries to settle bilateral trade reflects mutual confidence and underlines the robustness of the economies in both countries.

 

The UAE-India Business Summit is another step towards accelerating India-UAE bilateral economic relations for mutual growth and prosperity.

Indonesia has assigned its state food procurement firms Bulog and IDFood to procure 120,000 metric tons of meat from Brazil and India this year, the National Food Agency (NFA) said on Thursday.

 

Bulog was alloted an import quota of 100,000 tons of water buffalo meat from India while IDFood was assigned to import 20,000 tons of beef from Brazil, NFA chief Arief Prasetyo Adi told reporters.

 

Bulog’s chief executive Bayu Krisnamurthi said they will open a tender soon, aiming to have the meat arrive before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan that will occur in the middle of March.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who is on a visit to the UK held a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on boosting ties between the two nations.

 

The two leaders appreciated the new momentum and direction of the India-UK partnership, symbolised by intense engagements at various levels.

 

Singh outlined his goal of integrating defence industries of India and UK, including through supply chain integration to build resilience. He stressed the importance of bilateral start-up level interaction, and identification and discussion of joint projects that India and the UK could implement together.

 

Taking to X, Rajnath Singh stated, 'Insightful deliberations with the UK Foreign Secretary, Mr. David Cameron on boosting India-UK ties and deepening cooperation between both the countries.'

 

Cameron reiterated the UK government's desire to collaborate with India in defence areas. The leaders held the meeting at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

 

In a press release, the Ministry of Defence said, 'Foreign Secretary Cameron reiterated the UK government's desire to collaborate with India in the defence areas, particularly in the field of defence industrial collaboration, as one of the means by which the UK hopes to strengthen the support for a rule-based international order.'

 

Singh, who is currently on a visit to UK, interacted with the Indian community at India House in London. More than 160 prominent persons of Indian origin attended the interaction. A number of Indian military ex-servicemen, including a few family members of second world war veterans were also present.

 

Earlier, Singh and his UK counterpart Grant Shapps attended the India-UK Defence Industry CEOs Roundtable at Trinity House in London.

 

Taking to X, Defence Minister's Office stated, 'Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh and his British counterpart Mr. @grantshapps attended the India-UK Defence Industry CEOs Roundtable at Trinity House in London.'

 

The UK announced its plans to send its Littoral Response Group to the Indian Ocean Region later this year, with a proposal for the Carrier Strike Group to visit the Indian waters in 2025.Both will operate and train with Indian forces.

 

The announcement was made by UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps. The UK and India also vowed to continue strengthening ties during the Defence Minister's visit to the country.

 

In a post shared on X, Rajnath Singh stated, 'Had a wonderful interaction with the industry leaders and CEOs at the UK-India Defence CEO Roundtable in London. India envisions an enriching partnership with the UK to cooperate, co-create and co-innovate. By synergizing the strengths of both the countries, we can do great things together.'

 

In a move that signals the growing importance of the strategic relationship between the UK and India, Defence Secretary Shapps welcomed Singh to the UK and the two leaders agreed on unprecedented levels of UK-India defence cooperation, according to an official release.

 

The two nations also discussed future cooperation in defence from joint exercises to knowledge sharing and instructor exchanges. These steps build on the comprehensive strategic partnership envisaged in the 2030 India-UK roadmap, announced in 2021, it added.

 

In the coming years, the UK and India will also embark on more complex exercises between their respective militaries, building up to a landmark joint exercise to be conducted before the end of 2030, supporting shared goals of protecting critical trade routes and upholding the international rules-based system, as per the release.

 

Shapps said, 'There is absolutely no question that the world is becoming increasingly contested, so it's vital that we continue to build on our strategic relationships with key partners like India. Together we share the same security challenges and are steadfast on our commitment to maintaining a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific.'

 

He said it is clear that 'this relationship is going from strength-to-strength, but we must continue to work hand-in-hand to uphold global security in light of threats and challenges that seek to destabilise and damage us'.

State Logistics Agency (Bulog) president director Bayu Krisnamurthi said that the government agreed to assign them with importing 2 million tons of rice this year. Bayu said that the decision was made based on the food balance to maintain the balance of the government's rice reserve (CBP) stock.

 

'As of now, the food balance for rice is 2 million tonnes. We have discussed it, but it may be more than 2 million tonnes,' Bayu said at Bulog's office in Jakarta on Thursday, January 11.

 

He said the 2 million ton import assignment had not been realized because of transportation problems. He explained that the silting in the Suez Canal and the conflict in the Middle East had hampered the delivery of imported food supplies. 'It's not easy for us to get ships and containers.'

 

In addition, there is still the process of importing rice from the remaining assignments from last year amounting to some 500,000 tons, he said.

 

However, Bayu ensured that the government's rice reserve stock (CBP) in the Bulog warehouse was safe. He said Bulog would ensure a CBP supply of 1.3 million tons for market operations and rice aid distribution starting in January.

 

Despite the task to import rice, Bayu said he was pessimistic that rice prices this year would decline anytime soon. According to him, rice prices will still soar this year because domestic production has not yet recovered, production costs are still high, especially fertilizers, and the policies of rice-producing countries to protect supplies.

 

Previously, President Joko Widodo said that the rice import assignment policy was still difficult to stop because domestic production was not enough to meet needs.

 

During the 2024 Indonesian Economic Outlook held by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Jokowi confirmed that Indonesia would import one million tons of rice from India and two million tons from Thailand to ensure the safety of Indonesia's national rice reserves in 2024.

Abolition of tariffs or import duties on industrial goods in Switzerland is seen to help exporters of Indian textiles, shoes and other industrial inputs going into the European nation.

The move comes at a time when India is in the final stages of concluding talks for a trade treaty with European Free Trade Association (EFTA), comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

 

In the trade talks, government typically bargains for duty cuts on products of its interests, along with opening up of services and investment flows into the country.

Chemicals and precious and semi-precious stones are among the top export items from India. Swiss negotiators have been seeking easier intellectual property rights, especially patent, rules for pharma companies in return for a promise to invest more in India.

While duties have been abolished on industrial goods, ranging from bicycles, household appliances to clothing, tariffs will still apply to farm products, including processed food and fisheries, Swiss authorities said. "As of January 1, 2024, imports of industrial products to Switzerland are exempt from customs duties. This will result in direct tariff savings and less administrative work for Swiss importers and lower prices for consumers. The total welfare gain for Switzerland is estimated at over CHF 860 million (over $1 billion)," an official statement said.

 

In addition, Swiss authorities have estimated indirect gains, such as those related to productivity for companies, at around CHF 270 million.