India’s import of edible oils is likely to be lower in the oil year 2022-23 (November-October), if the forecasts of Dorab Mistry, Director of Godrej International, are any indication.

 

In his recorded video presentation at the 25th edition of Globoil India, he estimated the Indian imports at 13.65 million tonnes (mt) during 2022-23 against 13.84 mt in 2021-22.

 

Explaining the rationale behind his forecasts, he said India is over-importing vegetable oils now. India is importing too much in August, September and October. As a result of this, the end-October stocks, which are the opening stocks for next year, will be very high. 'That is one of the reasons why we will import less next year,' he said.

 

Added to this, Indian production of soyabean, rapeseed and palm will be better next year.

 

He estimated the Indian import of soyabean oil at 3.65 mt in 2022-23 (4.13 mt in 2021-22), palm oil at 7.7 mt (7.65 mt), and sunflower oil at 2.2 mt (1.93 mt).

 

Stating that India has been very lucky with the monsoon this year, he said extended rainfall will also benefit rabi mustard seed planting. He said consumption growth has recovered and production of oilseeds has also expanded now.

 

Palm oil production

On the global palm oil production, he said Malaysia will produce 18.2-18.5 mt in 2022.

 

Though his earlier estimate was at 19 mt, he reduced it due to the factors such as labour shortages in Malaysia.

 

Stating that Indonesian palm oil production will be 3 mt more than the last year, he said the Indonesian government made a huge mistake by banning the export of palm oil.

 

The combined export tax and levy of almost $550 a tonne was also a mistake and led to local shortages and very high prices. As a result of the ban, Indonesian stocks are very high, and the growers are suffering now.

 

Urging the Indonesian government to remove all export taxes and levies until December 31, he said such a move could help accelerate exports and bring local stocks to normal level.

 

Rapeseed

He said there has been a big recovery in the production of rapeseed and canola in 2022. The production is going to be up by 5-6 mt in Canada alone because of good rainfall there.

 

He said Indian mustard seed production in 2022-23 should again achieve new records.

 

Apart from this, any ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict will dramatically improve supplies, he said.

 

Soya

He said the US Department of Agriculture has been very aggressive in trimming the US soya crop. Though the extension of La Nina for third consecutive year is a bad omen for South American soya, record productions can be expected, thanks to better seeds and high prices in local currencies, he said.

 

Sunflower

Referring to sunflower production, he said more sunflower seed and sunflower oil should be exported, if the Russia-Ukraine conflict ends or decelerates. He said Ukraine conflict must end before Christmas because Russian troops want to go back home for Christmas.

Saffron from Kashmir GI-tagged: Farmers in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are now able to sell their products on domestic and international marketplaces thanks to the GI labelling of Kashmiri saffron. This was said by Chowdhury Mohammad Iqbal, director of agriculture in Kashmir, who today visited the India International Saffron from Kashmir Trade Centre in Dussu in the Pampore neighbourhood of the Pulwama district of south Kashmir to see how it was operating there.

 

Saffron from Kashmir GI-tagged: Key Points

The Director of Agriculture spoke at the event and expressed his satisfaction with IIKSTC’s performance during the previous two years.

According to him, more than 3000 kg of fresh saffron flowers from which more than 300 kg of saffron was collected could be processed in the IIKSTC lab, which the Department has been using on a trial basis for the past two years.

He claimed that the GI tagging and e-auctioning facilities have facilitated the export of our goods to places like Dubai and other nations.

They anticipate much better outcomes in the future, Mr. Chowdhury stated, and he ordered the appropriate personnel to make sure that the quality standards are always followed.

He noted that agreements had been established with several international marketing platforms, and that it was reasonable to anticipate that Kashmiri Saffron will expand its global marketing coverage in the future.

The US is among key trading partners with whom India will seek to strike free trade agreements over the next five years in a bid to boost its share of exports in global trade to 3% by 2027 from 2.1% at the moment.

 

It is part of vision for the five-year foreign trade policy (FTP) 2022-2027, likely to be unveiled on 30 September.

 

The US is currently not in FTA talks with India.

 

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal during a recent visit to the US had said that India would be 'happy and willing' to negotiate a trade pact with the US, provided Washington decides to look for a new free trade partner. He said the US administration, as a policy, is not looking at a FTA with any new partner.

 

India was discussing a mini-trade deal with the US to boost economic ties during the Trump administration. After concluding pacts with the UAE and Australia, India is negotiating FTAs with Canada, UK, and the European Union.

 

The commerce department is of the view that while domestic sensitivities in various areas would be considered during negotiations, India would adopt an accommodative approach in various areas of interest on the principle of reciprocity.

 

The government also plans to coordinate broad strategies with concerned ministries and departments for reducing non-essential imports, according to a presentation by the department of commerce reviewed by Mint.

 

The foreign trade policy will have three new chapters—on e-commerce, districts as export hubs, and SCOMET (dual use items used for civilian/industrial and military use)—thereby giving special emphasis on them. The chapter on e-commerce will aim to offset some of the transaction costs and promote e-commerce exports from India.

Recent changes in India’s rice-export rules have helped keep a check on domestic prices without reducing the availability for exports. The changes have been done keeping in mind the need to support the ethanol-blending programme that saves costly oil imports and to help the animal husbandry and poultry sectors by reducing the cost of animal feed that has a bearing on the price of milk, meat and eggs.

 

Need for amendment in rules

 

•  Significant rise in export of broken rice: There has been a rise in global demand for broken rice due to geo-political scenario which has impacted price movement of commodities including those related to animal feed.  Export of broken rice has increased by more than 43 times in past 4 years (21.31 LMT exported from April-August, 2022compared to 0.51 LMT in the same period in 2019) with significant jump in 2021-22 over last year. In the year 2021, the quantity exported was 15.8 LMT (April-August, 2021). Prices of broken rice rose significantly in the current year.

 

• Meet domestic requirement under Ethanol Blending Programme: Since Ethanol Season Year (ESY) 2018-19, India has allowed grain based ethanol and in ESY 2020-21, Food Corporation of India has also been allowed to sell rice to ethanol plants for fuel ethanol production. However, in the current ESY2021-22, against the contracted quantity of 36 crore litres, only about 16.36 crore litres (till 21.08.2022) have been supplied by distilleries due to low availability of broken rice for ethanol production.

 

•  Contain impact on poultry sector due to rising prices: Domestic price of broken rice, which was Rs.16/Kg in the open market, has increased to about Rs. 22/Kg in States. Poultry sector and animal husbandry farmers were impacted the most due to price hike of feed ingredients as about 60-65%inputs cost for poultry feed comes from broken Rice. Any increase in prices of feedstock are reflected in price of poultry products like Milk, Egg, Meat etc. adding to food inflation.

 

• Price of rice in domestic market: The retail price of rice showed an increase of 0.24% over the week, 2.46% over the month and 8.67% over the year as on 19.9.2022.  There is an increase of 15.14% on an average of five years.

 

• Domestic production scenario of Rice: The likely shortfall in area and production of Paddy for the Kharif season 2022 is 6%. In domestic production, 60-70 LMT estimated production loss was earlier anticipated. Now, production loss of 40-50 LMT is expected and production output is not expected to be higher this year but only at par with previous year.

 

•  The domestic prices of Rice are showing increasing trend and it may continue to increase due to low production forecast by about 6 MMT of Paddy and 11% increase in export of Non basmati compared to corresponding period of last year.

 

Amendment in export policy of Broken Rice

 

About 50-60 LMT of broken rice (HS Code 1006-4000) is produced annually in India and is mainly used as poultry and cattle feed. It is also used as a feedstock by the grain based distilleries for producing ethanol which is supplied to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to meet blending requirements (20%).

 

In order to ensure adequate availability of broken rice, Govt. of India has amended the export policy of broken rice(underHSCode10064000) w.e.f 9th Sep,2022 from 'Free' to 'Prohibited' as per Notification No. 31/2015-2020dated 8th Sep, 2022 with certain relaxations during the period 9th -15th Sep, 2022 only for cases where loading of consignment has commenced before this Notification, shipping bill is filed and vessels have already berthed or arrived and anchored in Indian ports and their rotation number has been allocated before this Notification, consignment has been handed over to the Customs before this Notification and is registered in their system.

 

Amendment in export policy of Non Basmati Rice (Others) (HS Code 1006 - 3090), Rice In Husk (Paddy Or Rough) (HS Code 1006 – 10), Husked (Brown Rice) (HS Code 1006 – 20), Non Basmati Rice (Parboiled Rice) (HS Code 1006 – 3010)

 

International price of Indian rice (non-basmati others HS Code 10063090) is selling around Rs. 28-29/kg which is higher than the domestic price. An export duty of 20% on Rice in Husk (Paddy or Rough), Husked (Brown Rice) and Semi-milled or Wholly milled Rice whether or not polished or glazed other than par-boiled rice and basmati rice has been imposed by the Government. This would lead to lowering of prices of rice.

 

No change in Export policy of Non Basmati Rice (Par Boiled Rice) and Basmati Rice

 

The government has not made any changes in the policy relating to par-boiled rice (HS CODE = 1006 30 10) so that farmers continue to get good remunerative prices. Further, dependent and vulnerable countries will have adequate availability of par-boiled rice as India has significant share in the global rice export.

 

Similarly, no change in policy in Basmati rice (HS CODE = 1006 30 20) has been done as basmati rice is premium rice which is majorly consumed by the Indian Diaspora in different countries and its export quantity is very less compared to other rice.

 

Relaxation for transitional arrangement of Export of Raw Rice (HS Code 10063090) and Raw Broken Rice (HS Code 10064000)- (Representations from Associations)

 

•  As per the notification of DGFT, the transitional relaxation for export of raw broken rice (HS Code 1006-4000) was upto 15th September, 2022 but now has been extended upto 30th September, 2022 and shall be further extended upto 15th October, 2022.

 

WTO Compliance

 

According to the non-binding guiding principles to support the Multi-lateral Trading System (MTS) for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it has to  be ensured that any emergency measures introduced to address food security concerns shall minimize trade distortions as far as possible, be temporary, targeted and transparent and be notified and implemented in accordance with WTO rules. In accordance with WTO rules 'Ministerial decision on World Food Programme, food purchase exemptions from export prohibitions or restrictions', Members should not impose export prohibitions or restrictions on food stuffs purchased for non-commercial humanitarian purposes by the World Food Programme.

 

In September, 2022, India has banned export of broken rice and imposed a 20 per cent export duty on non-Basmati rice except for parboiled rice to boost domestic supplies amid a fall in area under paddy crop in the current kharif season.

 

The ban on export of broken rice, which is used in poultry feed, was imposed following a rise in the grain's exports in recent months which had put pressure on the domestic market. This is a temporary measure which has been undertaken for food security concerns of the country keeping in line with the achievement of SDGs (Goal 2: Zero hunger).

The MP government will increase from one lakh registered organic farmers to two lakh soon and double exports from Rs 2500 cr to enhance income of farmers in the State.

 

Inaugurating the Organic and Ayurvedic Aahar summit organised by the Confederation of Organic Food Producers and Marketing Agencies Kamal Patel, Agriculture Minister said here on Thursday.

 

He said MP has already attained number one position in the country and passing on the monitory benefits to the farmers. He also said the State is working hard to develop MP ORGANIC BRAND and will popularize them in the highest organic produce consuming countries. He advised COII to be the developing partner of the state.

 

The NABARD General Manager Nidhi Sharma said the apex Bank will soon launch in the state one- district-one-product to ensure adequate quantity to be viable. NABARD shall extend help for promotion of the scheme.

 

DS Rawat, chairman of COII said the confederation and its knowledge partner BillMart Fintech will adopt two districts in the state for providing handholding in one district to creating agro- based enterprises and in another district MSMEs.

 

He said once these districts become successful Pilot projects, with the support of state government will be implemented all over the State.

 

APEDA regional manager Ashok Kumar Bora said their organisation has launched many innovative initiatives for promotion of exports in the international market. In the domestic market, the organic products are not fetching the good price. The biggest problem is non-availability of quantity and quality and therefore stressed the need for contract farming.

 

SIDBI AGM Anand Kishore Yadav announced that the bank has decided to promote through various schemes to ensure sustainable development and livelihood.

 

He invited farmers to come forward to avail benefits of their schemes and assure clearance within 15 days. Other speakers were Mukta Sarj from National Institute of Ayurveda, Arvind Kumar, Food Safety Department and anoj Kumar, MP State organic certification agency etc.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a very ambitious desire to get the India-UK Free Trade Agreement signed by Diwali and his new British counterpart Liz Truss wants her administration to 'match the pace and ambition' of the Indian leader, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has said.

 

Cleverly also said that the bilateral relationship between India and UK is longstanding and wide-ranging, which is both a 'huge plus' but it also means that 'quite understandably there is a desire to have a very, very wide-ranging, meaningful free trade agreement.'

 

'Obviously, Prime Minister Modi has set a very ambitious desire to get a free trade agreement signed by Diwali. Now that means that both us and Indian negotiators are going to have to work very, very hard but we are very willing to do so,' Cleverly told PTI in an interview here Wednesday on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session.

 

'We want to make sure that the deal that we do, ideally by Diwali, is the first step in a continually evolving trade and economic relationship with India. So, there's a lot to do and not a lot of time,' Cleverly said, adding that he is keen to 'match the ambition of the Prime Minister.

 

'He (Modi) is a very high-energy political leader. He's very, very ambitious. He's ambitious for India as a country, he is ambitious for our relationship with India and all this is incredibly positive. Our Prime Minister (Truss), I know because we've had this discussion, she wants us to match the pace and ambition of your Prime Minister. And that means the other ministers and the officials are going to have to work really hard and really fast.'

 

Diwali falls on October 24 this year.

 

Cleverly said 'we need to continue discussing things like climate change, the impact on food security and of course, our joint efforts to bring resolution to the various conflicts around the world, including, of course, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So a very, very broad and busy agenda,' he said.

 

He added that that range of potential agreements also adds complexity. While there are traditional areas in a free trade agreement such as exports and imports of manufactured goods, agricultural goods, technology and service industries, the mutual recognition of professional qualifications is also 'incredibly important now.'

 

'It is a challenge in a positive way because we have such a strong heritage and inter-woven economies and societies,' he said.

 

Jaishankar, speaking at an event at Columbia University, said India has done a trade agreement with Australia and UAE recently. 'We are in the middle, fairly advanced in negotiations with the UK. We have recommenced with the EU, quite hopeful out there and there will be a few others which will happen.'

 

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said last month that negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement between India and the UK are progressing at a faster pace. The agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments between the two countries. India has signed a trade pact with the UAE in a 'record' time and 'now our talks with the UK are moving at a faster pace', Goyal had said.

 

In January, India and the UK formally launched talks for a free trade agreement. They have set the deadline for concluding talks by Diwali.

 

Cleverly met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar late Wednesday evening on UNGA sidelines, the first opportunity for him to formally meet with his Indian counterpart after Jaishankar's 'very very kind message that he sent congratulating me' when he took on the post of Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom under the new administration of Prime Minister Truss, who took office early this month when Queen Elizabeth had formally asked her to form a new government.

 

Two days after Truss met her at the Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the 96-year-old British monarch passed away.

 

British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said in New Delhi that the best way to celebrate Diwali will be to have a good free trade agreement between India and the United Kingdom. He observed that the free trade agreement (FTA) will lead to the creation of more jobs, growth and opportunities for both India and the UK. Speaking on the sidelines of an event, he asserted that there was 'high ambition' to complete the India-UK FTA by Diwali -- a deadline set earlier by both nations -- and added, 'that would be an auspicious date'.

 

Asked if one could expect a 'Diwali Dhamaka' for India in relation to the FTA, the British High Commissioner quipped, 'I hope so.'

 

Earlier addressing an Assocham conference, Ellis said: 'We have the aim to finish the FTA by Diwali.'

 

India and the UK trade mostly in services which accounts for about 70 per cent of the overall trade. Both countries also aim to increase their bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by the end of this decade.

In a move to boost exports of unique agricultural processed food products, the centre through apex export promotion body -- Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Authority (APEDA) --- facilitated the export of first consignment of plant-based meat products under Vegan food category from Nadiad in Kheda district in Gujarat to California,the United States of America (USA).

 

With the growing popularity of vegan food products in developed countries, the plant-based food products have a huge export potential in the international market due to the high nutrient value of the vegan food products. Due to its rich fiber and lesser cholesterol contents, vegan food products are becoming alternative food products across the globe.

 

The first shipment that was exported to the USA from Nadiad has vegan food products like momos, mini samosas, patties, nuggets, spring rolls, burgers, etc. The logistics support was provided by the Kheda district administration.

 

Stressing on exploring new foreign destinations, APEDA Chairman, Dr M Angamuthu said that APEDA is working towards promotion of plant-based meat products in a big way without disturbing the conventional animal-based meat export market.

 

On the occasion, Kheda district magistrate Shri K.L. Bachani assured all needed support to APEDA for export-related activities in future. 'It has become possible with the efforts of Regional Head, APEDA Gujarat that first consignment of plant-based food products is being shipped to U.S.A from Nadiad,' Bachani said.

 

The APEDA has planned to promote a variety of vegan foods products, including pancake, snacks, cheese, etc, to the countries of Australia, Israel, New Zealand and others in coming months.

 

On the occasion, APEDA, Gujarat’s Regional Head stressed on adding more plant-based meat products in APEDA’s export basket.The first consignment of plant-based food products were exported by Greennest and Wholesome Foods.

 

APEDA has taken number of export promotion activities and initiatives, by way of development of virtual portals for organizing Virtual Trade Fairs, Farmer Connect Portal, e-office, HortiNet Traceability system, Buyer Seller Meets, Reverse Buyer Seller Meets, product specific campaigns etc. APEDA has been closely working with the state government for creating infrastructure and promotion of export from the state.

 

APEDA assists in upgradation and strengthening of recognized laboratories for export testing and residue monitoring plans. APEDA also provides assistance under the financial assistance schemes of infrastructure development, quality improvement and market development for boosting export of agricultural products.

 

APEDA organizes participation of exporters in the International Trade Fairs, which provides a platform to the exporters to market their food products in the global marketplace. APEDA also organizes national events like AAHAR, Organic World Congress, BioFach India etc. to promote agri-exports.

 

In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, APEDA has recognized 220 labs across India to provide services of testing a wide range of products to exporters.

Delegates of the ninth session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) finalised a resolution here on Thursday on 'celebrating the guardians of crop diversity.' It recognises the role of communities, farmers and women as 'guardians of crop diversity'. During the discussions, India assumed a leadership role to steer the consultation on enhancement of the functioning of the multilateral system (MLS) of the ITPGRFA.

 

The session, on its third day, established a ‘contact group’ to guide a draft process for re-starting the negotiations which broke down since the last meeting of the ITPGRFA governing body held before the pandemic. 'Delegates of GB-9 held the first informal meeting of the contact group to take the agenda forward in the plenary discussion,' the Union Agriculture Ministry said in a release.

 

India also drew attention to the meeting on the funding status of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). India argued that ICRISAT is not a part of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research but continues to be a CGAIR Genebank as defined by Article 15 of the Treaty. 'India demanded that GB-9 deliberate on the issue of continued funding of ICRISAT Genebank,' the release added.

 

India also demanded deliberations on Digital Sequence Information (DSI) in Plant Treaty independent of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). India endorsed the need for continuation of technical deliberations to provide clarity of definition, scope, jurisdiction, nature of implementation and access and benefit sharing mechanisms for fulfilling the objectives of ITPGRFA.

 

The release said the DSI had been a difficult issue to resolve in all international fora. 'Since ITPGRFA deliberations are relatively ahead in content and practical in nature, India argued that DSI issue should be resolved without compromising on the discussions on multilateral system enhancement. India further reiterated that ITPGRFA should not wait for CBD to resolve DSI issue, since ITPGRFA deliberations are relatively ahead in content, delineated in scope and easy to implement,' the government said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal called for intensive efforts to save and promote multilateralism. He was delivering his opening statement at the G20 Trade, Investment and Industry Ministerial Meeting that is underway in Bali, Indonesia.

 

 He expressed concern that if multilateralism was imperilled, the world would not be left with many forums to promote dialogue and diplomacy and thus free trade would suffer. 

 

The Minister reiterated that India stood firmly with the Indonesian Presidency in its efforts to achieve an outcome based on consensus reflecting the collective commitment of all nations for a fair, transparent and rules-based multilateral trading system

 

Emphasizing that India believes that multilateralism is the cornerstone for managing and facilitating global trade, the Minister welcomed the outcomes of WTO MC12. He urged the G20 to commit itself to positive and timely discussions on important areas mandated by the MC12 including WTO reforms and extension of TRIPS waver to cover the production and supply of COVID 19 diagnostics and therapeutics within the agreed timeframe of 6 months. He also asked members to be conscious that our fisheries negotiations and a permanent solution to public stockholding, a permanent solution to e-commerce moratorium amongst other agendas required their urgent attention and decisions.

 

The Minister observed that in the wake of the pandemic and other recent geopolitical developments, the world had witnessed disruptions in supply chains. There was an urgent need to address these challenges, he said.

 

Expressing grave concern over climate change he called for promoting a healthy and sustainable way of living based on traditions and values of conservation and moderation. In this regard, the ‘LIFE’ approach, that is, ‘Lifestyle For Environment’ proposed by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi can prove to be an effective tool in promoting sustainable lifestyles and enhancing environmental sustainability, he opined.

 

He called upon all members to show utmost flexibility and draw from the experience at the WTO MC12 in June where significant progress to promote equitable and fair trade was achieved.

 

There was significant support to India’s position and many members expressed the desire to see outcomes, and aligned with India’s proposal.

With the India-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) close to being implemented, a 100-member business delegation, led by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), will visit India later this month to scout for fresh opportunities across sectors such as agriculture, food and wine, critical minerals, digital health and infrastructure.

 

'This year’s Australia-India Business Exchange (AIBX) has been framed keeping in mind that we have got the Australia India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) almost in place. At Austrade, we want to source Australian businesses that can complement Indian needs. Our focus is on top end of the market for premium products. We are looking at complementarity of markets and not competition,' said Catherine Gallagher, Senior Trade Commissioner, Austrade.

 

Indo-Aus trade

 AIBX 2022, scheduled for September 25-30, will facilitate meetings between Australian businesses and potential Indian partners and importers and organise site visits while focussing on the needs of the Indian market. Top companies in sectors such as wines, spirits, packaged food, health, infrastructure and education are part of the delegation. The business delegates will visit five cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.

 

'The AI-ECTA deal signed in April gives Australian companies a head-start in Indian markets. By reducing tariffs and barriers to trade, AI-ECTA will improve two-way market access for Australian businesses. This comes as Indian markets become ever more open to overseas products, brands and services,' according to a statement.

 

'We have technology embedded in all the five focus sectors — education, health, infrastructure, agriculture and processed food and critical minerals,' Gallagher said.

 

The AI-ECTA, which will be implemented after the Australian Parliament approves it, is expected to double bilateral trade from $27.5 billion to $45-50 billion in five years and create 10 lakh jobs in the country.