A one-day National Seminar-cum-Workshop on ‘Export opportunities of Agro Processed Food Products’ was held at Paryatan Bhawan Seminar hall in Tourism Office of Gangtok.

 

The Chairman of the Farmers Welfare Board – Phurden Lepcha graced the event as its chief guest. It was also attended by the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Commerce & Industries Department – HK Sharma, IAS; Joint Director of MSME-DFO – AK Tamaria, officials of MSME, APEDA, DGFT, BIS, FIEO, KVIC, NABARD, stakeholders, representatives of Farmer Producer Groups (FPOs), entrepreneurs, members of Spices Board and the participants from the State.

 

Addressing the gathering, Lepcha stated that today’s seminar is solely focused on enhancing the marketing skills of the entrepreneurs for their State organic products.

 

He informed about the various schemes under MSMEs that aim to generate employment opportunities in the rural and urban areas in the state by setting up new self-employment ventures; and noted that the seminar would boast entrepreneurs’ potential spiraling up their business prospects.

 

The Chairman of Farmers Welfare Board urged all the members to participate in the informative session regarding various MSMEs schemes during the technical session in the seminar.

 

Meanwhile, the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Commerce & Industries Department lauded the initiatives of the MSME-DFO for organizing a seminar engaged in finding solutions to the issues related to enterprise promotion and development.

 

Sharma noted that MSME has been consistently enunciating policies resulting in enabling schemes and programmes for enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises; and stated that the seminar is loaded with business ideas and sources of information that will fully benefit the entrepreneurs who could plan for expansion and diversification.

 

He mentioned that 'the MSME sector has been generating many employment opportunities in the State with its inclusive concept of enterprise creation. All the entrepreneurs should take up the upper hand during the seminar.' Sharma further requested all to further enroll under UDYAM Portal to avail the benefits of the various schemes.

 

The programme aimed to generate awareness & motivate the existing and potential Entrepreneurs to expand their business into the international market with the help of the related stakeholders.

Indian and Australian negotiators have met for talks toward a full-fledged free trade agreement even as a mini-pact remains unratified by the Australian parliament.

 

The talks for a comprehensive deal assume significance as it will be handled by the new government in Australia led by the Labour Party which came to power in May, a month after the previous government signed the mini-trade deal with India.

 

'Australian and Indian Chief Negotiators met in Delhi on 26 September for talks towards a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA),'Australian High Commission said in response to a query.

 

Queries sent to the ministry of commerce and industry remained unanswered at press time.

 

Amit Yadav, additional secretary, department of commerce, led the Indian side while the Australian negotiators were drawn from a delegation of 106 companies which visited India this week to explore supply partnerships with Indian companies. The Australian companies will also scout for opportunities in minerals, digital health, infrastructure and agri-food.

 

On the mini-trade deal, Australia’s trade and investment commissioner Denise Eaton told Mint that general elections in Australia delayed the negotiations and the ratification of the mini-trade deal called the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). She added that the ECTA is expected to come into effect by February next year.

 

'ECTA is really only the start. Negotiators are part of the delegation that has come. So when that’s ratified this will come into place. It will come into effect right about January-February next year. It’s just the start. There are more negotiations to continue to build and strengthen our relationships. There has been a little bit of a gap and that is mainly because we’ve got a new government. But with our new government in play now and particularly in the critical mineral space.. our new government has set some very ambitious targets for climate change and emissions reductions very much like the Indian market.'

 

A free trade pact with Australia is expected to double the trade with India in the next 5 years as about 95% of Indian goods would get zero duty access from day one of the deal coming into effect.

 

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal had said that although talks had started about 10 years back, they came to a halt after the UPA government decided to negotiate the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). However, after the current NDA government decided not to go ahead with RCEP, free trade talks resumed with Australia in September 2021, he had said.

 

The Australian delegation to India this week is looking to explore commercial and economic collaboration in the critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, nickel and titanium. Under ECTA, India has either eliminated or reduced tariffs on minerals. India and Australia are partners in the trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) arrangement along with Japan which seeks to enhance the resilience of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific.

The government is considering the demand to allow the export of broken and non-basmati white (raw) rice duty-free for which letters of credit (LCs) were 'transmitted on the exporter' and cargo received at Container Freight Station(CFS) before the ban came into effect on September 9.

 

In a memorandum to the government, The Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has said while the transitional arrangement for allowing shipments — which could not be loaded due to bad weather conditions — be extended up to October 15, the government should also consider two other factors to include them under in-transit definition.

 

Exporters shouldn’t lose

It said nearly 4 lakh tonnes (lt) of broken rice having valid LCs were already either at ports or at CFS before September 9 and those consignments should be allowed. Similarly, nearly 5 lt of white rice with irrevocable LCs were lying either at ports or CFS before September 9 which should be allowed without duty.

 

'One firm has as low as 25 tonnes of white rice with valid LC and it cannot re-negotiate the rate with the importer. Even if it cancels the order, it will bear some loss and the government should ensure no exporter makes a loss, even if there is no profit, due to its policy decision,' said an industry official. Sources said the Commerce Ministry has assured the exporters that all aspects will be taken into account including those raised by TREA as well as the concerns of the Food Ministry before deciding on their plea.

 

Last week, the Food Secretary had ruled out any possibility of duty relaxation for those who have opened LCs before ban.

 

Confusion at ports

The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade on September 8 issued a notification prohibiting the export of broken rice (parboiled and basmati exempted) effective from September 9 but allowed the consignments to be exported under specific conditions between September 9 and 15. It recently extended the last date to September 30 for those under transitional arrangements. The Centre also imposed a 20 per cent duty on the export of all varieties of rice, except basmati and parboiled rice, with effect from September 9.

 

Exporters are saying there are confusions at ports which the Centre should clarify and issue single guidelines.

 

While there is no clarity on definition of broken rice, since the full length rice has a tolerance level of 25 per cent broken grain, it is assumed that broken rice falls under anything above 25 per cent and upto 100 per cent, an exporter said. Customs authorities in Chennai recently issued guidelines on sample testing of rice consignments.

 

Three exporters have challenged the Centre’s curbs on rice exports in the Andhra Pradesh High Court with a Bench of Justices C Praveen Kumar and AV Ravindra Babu issuing a notice to the Ministry of Finance’s Revenue Department and Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Customers. The three exporters had filed a plea urging the court to issue a writ of mandamus to allow their shipments duty-free since 'let export' orders had been issued on September 8.

Chapata Warangal Chilli, one of the sweetest chillies in the country, has been lined up for a geographical indication (GI) tag. If it gets the tag, the total number of GI-tagged goods from Telangana will swell to 18.

 

Thimmapet chilli farmer producer company and Janna Reddy Venkatreddy Horticulture Research Station of Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticulture University have filed an application with GI Registry in Chennai seeking the tag.

 

The red dried version of chapata chilli, also known as 'Tomato Chapata Warangal Chilli', is unique to Warangal and looks similar to Mexican capsicum.

 

The horticulture university and chilli growers said the Warangal chilli is high in colour and low in heat. On the Scoville Scale (a tool for measuring the spiciness or pungency of hot peppers), this chilli's heat or pungence value is almost negligible. The Warangal chilli variety is used as a colourant in food and beverage processors because of its natural plant colour, a grower said.

 

'The chapata chilli is exclusive to Warangal and is grown in water-sufficient fields of the region. The green capsicum is dried to get the red chilli version. 

It has a unique sweet fragrance and is delicious in taste,' an official of the research station said.

 

The heat value is between 4,000 SHU and 8,000 SHU (Scoville heat unit is a scale for expressing the pungency of chilli against that of pure capsaicin, which measures 16 million SHU).

 

'Chapata chilli is used in restaurants and also in making pickles. There is a huge demand internationally for this variety, particularly in East Asia. There are several varieties of chapata chilli,' said a senior official of the horticulture university.

Senegal plans to hold talks with India to secure a much-needed rice supply after India banned exports of broken rice globally and imposed tariffs on some other types, the West African nation's president told business leaders late on Monday.

 

India and Pakistan are Senegal's two top sources of rice, a major food staple in the country. Senegal grows only about half the rice it consumes.

 

India, the world's biggest rice exporter, banned exports of broken rice and imposed a 20% duty on exports of various other types on Sept. 8 as it tries to boost local supplies and calm prices after below-average monsoon rainfall curtailed planting.

 

The ban could have a severe impact on countries particularly in the West and Central Africa region that depend on imports to make up for the shortfall in their local production.

 

'We must open negotiations with the Indian and Pakistani government on broken rice imports,' Senegal's President Macky Sall told a meeting with business leaders to discuss measures to curb rampant food inflation.

 

'I want to remind everyone that Senegal is an exporter of phosphoric acid which allows India to make its fertilizer,' Sall added, saying Senegal should get some exemption for that reason.

 

Although Senegal has increased its local rice production to more than 1.2 million tonnes annually from around 200,000 tonnes in 2007, it still needs to import over a million tonnes a year to meet local demand, which is more than 2 million tonnes, according to government data.

 

West Africa has faced its worst food crisis on record this year, with millions going hungry due to poor harvests and insecurity, while the war in Ukraine has made the region especially vulnerable to food price hikes and shortages.

The FSSAI has asked state food safety departments to conduct special drives to make food businesses aware about the mandatory declaration of FSSAI licence/registration number on cash receipts/invoices/cash memo/bills and so on. The food authority has also sought an action taken report from the states.

 

The FSSAI has issued an advisory, in this regard, reading, 'It is requested to carry out special drives to sensitise the FBOs to mention FSSAI licence/registration number on cash receipts/bills generated by them.'

 

The advisory added that awareness campaigns including use of media (tv/print/social) may also be started to highlight the provision to all the stakeholders so that the same was duly followed by the industry.

 

The decision was taken after FSSAI received several ‘complaints’ from consumers that the food business operators specially related to restaurants/hotels were not following the order of the food authority wherein it was made mandatory to declare the 14 digit FSSAI licence or registration number on bills.

 

The order was issued in September 2021, wherein all food businesses were asked to comply with effect from January 1, 2022.

 

According to a senior official with the FSSAI, the Chief Commissioner of Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has also highlighted the issue of restaurants/hotels not mentioning FSSAI licence/registration numbers on their invoices.

 

The official added that the state food safety commissioners were asked to submit the action taken report by October 15, 2022, in this regard.

Dr. Tarun Bajaj, Director, APEDA, while addressing the industry stakeholder at the MILLETS: Power House of Nutrition Round Table Interactive Meet, held at PHD house on Monday deliberated on how the crop area under millet production has been shrinking but on the demand side, the market scenario for Millet is very positive.

 

APEDA is preparing a perspective action plan to increase the exports of Millet in the next five years, i.e., 2021 – 2026, and also to increase the export footprint from 50 – 100 countries in the coming years, said Bajaj.

 

Dr. Bajaj mentioned that APEDA is already working towards the development of strategies that will help increase overall agricultural exports to countries other than the top buyers.

 

He also spread some light on the countries which are importing Millet such as Indonesia, Belgium, Japan, Mexico, Italy, and Brazil and he mentioned that India is non-existent in these markets as we are yet to start our exports to these countries.

 

Minhaj Alam, IAS, Additional Secretary, MOFPI, congratulated PHDCCI for organizing an event on Millets and said that India yet needs to be well positioned in the Millet sector. Deliberating on the working of MOFPI towards encouraging the Millet producers all over India, Alam, mentioned that the PLI scheme will increase the usage of millets in food products and promote its value addition, along with throwing light on the various schemes of MOFPI and their implementation.

 

The Large Entity Scheme under PLI, gives sales-based incentives to the applicants having a minimum sale of all food products to Rs 250 crores and the MSMEs scheme under PLI gives incentives for having a minimum of Rs 2 crore sales, said Alam.

 

Pradeep Multani, President, PHDCCI, mentioned that India is the world's leader in the production of millets with a share of around 40% of the world’s total production. India produces about 16 million MT of millet annually. India is the 2nd largest exporter of Millet.

 

Millets exports from India have continuously increased at 12% CAGR in the last 3 years. The millets market is set to grow from its current market value of more than $9 billion to over $12 billion by 2025, added Multani.

 

Nand Kishore Aggarwal, Chair, Agribusiness Committee, PHDCCI, mentioned that Millet is known to be a poor man’s food. There are apprehensions about their use in the diet by urban people. Due to the stigma around them, their immense benefits remain unexplored in a malnourished nation like ours. A sustainable approach to providing the right to food for people worldwide is the need of the hour.

 

The year 2023 has been announced as the year Millets by Food and Agriculture Organization and the agribusiness and food processing committee at PHDCCI has undertaken the responsibility of leading this mission from the front, said Aggarwal.

 

Dr. Dayakar Rao, Principal Scientist, Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), explained the six major varieties of Millets that are produced in India and also elaborated on the joint project between IIMR and APEDA which is dedicated to improving market and producer-related weaklings in the chain.

The government on Monday deferred the launch the new Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) due to current global economic upheavals and decided to extend the existing FTP 2015-20 for another six months after receiving feedback against unveiling any long-term strategy amid volatile geopolitical situation, supply chain disruptions, currency depreciation and dwindling export orders, people aware of the development said.

 

'In recent days, exporters and industry bodies have strongly urged the government that in view of the prevailing, volatile global economic and geo-political situation, it would be advisable to extend the current policy for some time, and undertake more consultations before coming out with the new policy,' the ministry of commerce and industry said in a statement.

 

A new foreign trade policy was scheduled to come into effect from April 1, 2020 but its launch was put off due to the global situation. The existing FTP was initially extended for one year because of the 'unprecedented' situation due to Covid-19 pandemic; it was subsequently extended every six months. FTP lays policy, objective and strategies to enhance India’s exports, reduce dependence on imports , and to create jobs.

 

At a press conference on September 3, the department of commerce said the new trade policy was ready to be unveiled by the end of this month. At least three people -- a government official and two experts, who requested anonymity -- said the growth in Indian exports declined significantly in two months because of global upheavals and economic uncertainties, which would require the government to revisit the draft of the new FTP.

 

'Many countries have restricted imports of luxury goods and non-essential items, many of them are insisting on paying in local currency, which is risky because depreciation of these currencies against the US dollar. Hence, the trade strategy needed to be reworked to reflect the current global reality,' one of them working in an apex trade body said.

 

The commerce ministry statement said the decision to continue with the current Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20) was taken following requests from export promotion councils and leading exporters.

 

The government has always involved all stakeholders in formulating policy, it said. 'In view of this, it has been decided to extend the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, valid till Sept 30, 2022 for a further period of six months, w.e.f. October 1st, 2022,' it added.

 

According to the latest provisional data released by the commerce ministry on September 14, India’s merchandise exports in August saw less than 2% year-on-year growth at $33.92 billion while imports surged 37.28%. During this period, India’s exports to China fell by over 35% to $6.8 billion in April-August 2022 compared to $10.5 billion in the same period previous year.

 

'Although crude oil prices have eased to a great extent, the depreciation of rupee against dollar is one of the reasons for surging imports,' a second person, a trader, mentioned above, said. India is the third largest consumer of the fossil fuel in the world after the US and China. It imports 85% crude it processes and pays in dollars.

 

Benchmark Brent crude that fell nine-month low to $84.51 a barrel on the Monday session over strong dollar and recessionary concerns, later recovered to $87.65 a barrel, and was trading at $86.85 with 0.81% gain. The rupee, however, plunged an all-time low at 81.67 against the US dollar on Monday.

 

Ajay Sahai, director general and chief executive of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) called it an 'extremely prudent' decision. 'The global situation is very-very fluid with countries facing rising inflation and uncertainty due to geo political development. Recession is settling in many economies and currency war is going on. This is not a good time for announcing a long-term Foreign Trade policy.'

 

'It is better to bring the policy when situation stabilises in six months so that we assess it and accordingly draw our strategy to face the new dynamics of global trade,' he said. Some experts, however, said the deferment would adversely impact many upcoming sectors.

 

Abhishek Jain, partner-indirect tax at KPMG in India said the new FTP, which was expected to be announced on September 29, has been deferred as the validity of the current FTP stands extended to March 31, 2023. 'For the service industry which was anticipating some benefits in lieu of the SEIS [Service Exports from India Scheme] in the new FTP, the wait seems to continue,' he said.

Agriculture Minister P. Prasad has said that the Kerala Agro Business Company (KABCO) will be set up in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode in a month to market value-added products produced under Krishi Bhavans.

 

Inaugurating various projects at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) under the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) and the Agricultural College at Ambalavayal here on Tuesday, Mr. Prasad said each Krishi Bhavan had been directed to produce at least one value-added product to be marketed in the State and outside through KABCO.

 

The recently constituted Value-Added Agriculture Mission (VAAM) chaired by the Chief Minister would help make a transition in the agriculture sector, the Minister said. VAAM primarily aimed at doubling farmers’ income, he added.

 

Mr. Prasad said ‘Poopoli’, an international flower show and agri fest of the KAU, would resume next year. The 12-day programme will begin on January 1. It was not held in the last three years owing to the pandemic.

 

The Agriculture College in Wayanad will offer M.S.c in Agriculture from the next academic year. Those doing B.Sc. in Agriculture would work with Krishi Bhavans from the second semester to maintain close contact with the farming community, said the Minister.

 

Mr. Prasad inaugurated the newly constructed women’s hostel of the Agriculture College and a model honey processing unit of RARS. He also laid the foundation stone for the academic block of the college.

Jordan is seeking 120,000 tonnes of wheat in an international purchasing tender with a deadline for offers on Oct 4, a government source told Reuters on Tuesday.

 

The country had been seeking the same amount in a tender on Tuesday but ultimately made no purchase, the source said.