October - December 2015 3

e-APEX UPDATE

APEDA

October- December 2015

SHOWCASING INDIA FOOD PRODUCTS

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October - December 2015 3

The emphasis has been on simplification and rationalization of the existing rules and intro-duction of information technology to make governance more efficient and effective. APEDA has always been a pioneer in making use of information technology for the promotion and development of exports from India. APEDA has undertaken a slew of initiatives during the last three months to enhance the existing eGov-ernance systems and introduce new online facilities for the benefit of stakeholders.

APEDA’s e-Governance initiatives towards improving “Ease of

Doing Business” in IndiaThe Government of India is aggres-

sively promoting the concept of “Make in India” towards development of the nation. The Government is tak-ing up a number of new measures and initiatives to improve the Ease of Dong Business in India.

Major Initiatives in April- September 2015

• Paperless application and issuance of RCMC• Paperless application and issuance of RCAC• Paperless application and issuance of Certificate of Export• Registration of Okra farms through HortiNet • Registration of Mango Orchards through Mangonet • A Redesigned website conforming to the sugges-

tions of IBEF APEDA’s website has been redesigned using a respon-sive and user friendly design, to project APEDA with the right positioning among trade stake holders and provide seamless experience across devices. This will ensure all the EPC’s websites to have a uniform design and content structure which will allow ease of content search and good search engine rankings.

These measures have already started showing results, further cutting down the time spent by stakeholders & paper work;

October - December 20154

Apply and Get RCMC Online – Making it easier for an

Entrepreneur to Start Exports from India

Now one does not have to visit APEDA for reg-istration as Member – Exporter and collect

RCMC Certificate. Prospective members can now submit online application along with the fee and required supporting documents thereby reducing the requirements for visiting APEDA office for sub-mission of manual applications and collecting the RCMC certificate. With the introduction of digital signature and payment gateway, APEDA is now generating and issuing certificates for RCMC using digital signature which can be downloaded by the member online using user ID and passwords pro-vided to them during application.

Paperless Application & Issuance of RCAC

Moving over from Manual printing and is-suance of RCAC, APEDA has achieved

100% digitization by enabling online payment gateway and digital signatures. Earlier Export-ers used to make payment offline, submit sup-porting documents in person and send their representatives to collect the certificates from APEDA office or wait for the post to arrive. Now they can not only submit their application on-line and make payment but also receive the certificates online within minutes of applying, digitally signed by APEDA official; this has re-duced the processing time for RCAC issuance and precious man-hours of exporters substan-tially.


Paperless Application and Issuance of Certificate of Export

Peanut.net already has integrated processing units, laboratories and APEDA into a sin-

gle window system for certification of peanut exports. Doing away offline payment system, APEDA has now enabled online payment gate-way and issues digitally signed Certificate of Export to exporters for peanut products, mov-ing towards an era of electronic documents ex-change for international trade. Exporters can download the certificates at their end thereby reducing the time to collect the physical copy of the certificates.

Another small step towards ensuring quality exports, first phase of Hortinet has been launched covering Okra in Vegetables and Mango in Fruits. Registration of farmers for

these products by state horticulture departments has been started and the system is already operational in Maharashtra and Kar-nataka, with other state governments likely to join soon.

Soon the entire certification and traceability system shall be launched for all stake holders, from pack houses to phyto-sanitary department.

Registration of Farmers & Orchards through Hortinet


APEDA is Continuing to Work on Improving the Ease of doing

Business in India

To continue with new initiatives on a regular basis, APEDA is already undertaking the follow-ing eGovernance initiatives to be launched in the near future for the benefit of exporters

and other stake holders:

Initiatives Under Progress for launch in the near future

• Public Grievance Monitoring System • Paperless Processing and disbursement of Transport Assistance Schemes • Complete revamping of Tracenet system for monitoring of production, processing and ex-

port of organic corps, aquaculture and livestock products. • Monitoring of Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) • Online application and issuance of Unit recognition certificate for Meat Processing Units,

Pack houses and Peanut Processing Units.

Apart from these, APEDA is also embarking on more eGovernance initiatives for promotion of exports and stakeholders development.

EIC Health Certificate for Processed Food required only if

needed

The export of processed food items was hitherto subject to issuance of Health Certificateby EIC. APEDA’s efforts have resulted in a positive change in this direction. and EIC has now

issued an advisory to the effect that EIC will issue Health Certificate only in case where import-ing countries require it. In cases where importing country does not require Health Certificate, exporter will have to produce a letter from importer that this certificate is not required and submit it to the Customs authorities at the port of shipment.


Basmati Rice – The Scented Pearl from India

The export of Basmati rice has shown significant increase in last few years going up from about 7 lakh MT in 2000 to over 37 lakh MT in 2015. The area and production has also

increased during this period and as per crop survey, the production during kharif 2015 is esti-mated to be about 87 lakh MT of Basmati Paddy.

‘BASMATI’ is special long grain aromatic rice cultivated in a particular geographical region of the Indian subcontinent for millennia with a recorded history of over 200 years. In view of its unique cooking and eating properties, Basmati is perceived as one of the premium kind of rice in different parts of the world. Amongst the food and restaurant industry around the world, Basmati Rice occupies a unique space as premium rice.

The supremacy of Basmati rice over other kinds of scented and non-scented rice is attribut-ed to its unique and delicately balanced combination of a number of unique characteristics such as long slender kernels with high length breadth ratio, an exquisite aroma, soft texture, delicate curvature, intermediate amylase content, high integrity of grain on cooking and lin-ear kernel elongation with least breadth wise swelling on cooking. Cooked grains of Basmati rice are characteristically free flowing rather than sticky, as with most long grain rice. Cooked basmati rice can be identified by its exclusive fragrance, delectable taste & pleasant mouth feels. These unique characteristics are attributable to the various natural and human factors involved in the sowing, harvesting and processing of Basmati Rice.


During the years 2013 and 2014 the higher demand from Iran led to a price increase reaching the peak level of USD 1400 per MT (about 35% higher than normal price range). However, subsequent to ban by Iran on issue of import permits in October 2014 the prices went down to USD 850 per MT. The increase in area and production of Basmati Paddy during 2014 Kharif also contributed to drop in prices. Now, by the end of 2015-16 the price level of USD 1000 – 1050 is expected to be restored.

The most important factor that influences international price of Basmati rice is the average global price of rice. If price of Thai – 100% Grade B , FOB Bangkok, is taken as bench mark, Basmati rice price ranges between 2.5 to 3 times. For example price of Thai – 100% Grade B , FOB Bangkok as on September 25, 2015 is quoted by International Grains Council is USD 355 per MT. As per export contracts registered with APEDA during September 2015 the average FOB for Basmati rice is USD 915 per MT (2.57 times). This price one year ago was USD 453 per MT for Thai – 100% Grade B and USD 1150 per MT for Basmati rice (2.53 times).

Basmati rice continues to be one of the major agro products of export from the country. The quantity of export has gone up by about 17% during the April- August 2015 with exports to about 155 countries. The export prices of Basmati rice and accordingly of the paddy for farm-ers are influenced by overall global food price trends and increase/decrease in supply, same as in the case of most other agro products.

APEDA promotes the export of Basmati rice along with other agro products monitored by it through participation in about 12 international food fairs every year in different parts of the world. Application for registration of Basmati rice as a Geographical Indication (GI) is at advance stage. For protection of Intellectual Property vested in term ‘Basmati’, unautho-rised and deceptive use of the term is opposed both in India and foreign jurisdictions. Basmati Export Development Foun- dation (BEDF) has been founded and registered as a society to strengthen the supply chain and increase awareness about good agriculture practices to en-sure that Basmati rice from India meets the standards of importing countries in respect of food safety such as maximum residue levels of pesticides, mycotoxins and heavy metals.


Outreach Programmes of APEDA

APEDA is conducting Outreach Programmes as one of the important activities in various parts of the country APEDA has five regional offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Guwahati,

however, considering agriculture is vast activity being practiced all over the country, stake holders such as agriculture exporters, farmers, service providers, trade associations, government agencies need to be sensitized and brought at common platform for deliberating on common issues and availing benefit of APEDA schemes & its activities. On the one hand the objective of conducting these programmes is to reach to the stakeholders to disseminate the information about APEDA Schemes and activities and on the other hand these programmes are also serving as a platform to compile and resolve the trade issues relating to a specific product or a particular region.

These programmes are also helping in increasing awareness about product quality, Good Agriculture Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, Food Safety and Hygiene Standards. Further, these pro-grammes are also being utilized as a common meeting point for farmers and exporters, service provid-ers and other stakeholders to work in an integrated manner bridging the gaps.

Apart from In-house resource knowledge within APEDA regarding its schemes; products and different processes involved, APEDA also invite representatives of organizations such as DGFT, FSSAI, EIC, Mar-keting Boards, etc. Participants get opportunity to know Government policies and procedures for ex-port; trade promotion assistance; export procedures; product approval; product standards; inspection of units and other schemes of various Central and State Government agencies. Further, since these programmes are also region specific, the issues of importance to particular regions are specially ad-dressed whether it is infrastructure needs; quality; logistics; procedural issues related State or Central Government. We have received encouraging response from all the stakeholders.

APEDA has identified about 20 outreach programmes to be conducted at various locations in the coun-try in the year 2015-16. Outreach programmes in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Mahuva, Guwahati, Patna and Nagpur have already been conducted. Similar programmes are planned in Bihar, NE Region, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Haryana, Punjab, J&K, Utta- rakhand, Himachal Pradesh and U.P during the year.


Outreach Programme in Chandigarh

APEDA organized the outreach programme at CII, Chandigarh on 1st July, 2015 with the objective to disseminate the information about its financial assistance schemes and initiatives taken for devel-

opment and promotion of agriculture export and also to resolve the trade issues specific to products and the region. The eminent speakers emphasized that despite India being amongst major producer of several commodities, is lagging behind in value addition to processed foods and there is a strong need for shift from commodities exports to value added products exports. The program was attended by Government officials, Exporters, Farmers and other stakeholders.

Shri Suresh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab was the Chief Guest. APEDA was represented by Shri Krishan Kumar, Chairman, Shri Sunil Kumar, General Manager, Shri Tarun Bajaj, General Manager, Shri A. K. Gupta, Director (BEDF) and Shri Vinod Kaul, Consultant while CII was rep-resented by Shri SS Bhogal, Chairman and Northern Zone.

Shri Suresh Kumar suggested that farmers should follow the PAU recommendations about agronomic practices suited to specific varieties. Shri Krishan Kumar mentioned agriculture exports has seen an impressive growth over the last few years and now India is the 6th largest exporters of agri produce having a 2.7% share in world agri trade and stressed on shifting the focus from commodities exports to value added products exports. While mentioning the incentives provided under the Foreign Trade Policy, he emphasized the need to adopt the international product standards which inter alia require improving domestic standards.

Shri Sunil Kumar highlighted the role of APEDA in promoting agricultural exports, the assistance pro-vided by APEDA in boosting export oriented infrastructure, quality improvement etc. He also depicted the potential agrihorti products in Punjab which could be taken up for exports. Dr Tarun Bajaj high-lighted the scenario about the processed foods exports from India, the potential products especially with reference to Punjab, the potential markets and the pre- requisites for adhering to international trade requirements. In the technical session, Shri AK Gupta made a presentation about the current status about global rice production, major producing countries, and export of Basmati rice from India, average price realization, market access issues, etc. The major issues emerged from the meeting were related to GI for Basmati rice; development of vegetables clusters; infrastructure facilities at Attari bor-der; sanitization of farmers about the agronomic practices, etc


Outreach Programme for DehydrationIndustry in Mahuva

An outreach programme for dehydration industry was organized on 5th August, 2015 at Mahuva, Gujarat for discussion on various issues and improvements in exports of dehy-

drated vegetables.

The programme was joined by Mr. Sunil Kumar, General Manager, APEDA, Dr. Tarun Bajaj, General Manager, APEDA, Dr. Sudhanshu, Dy. General Manager, APEDA, Mumbai, Dr. Kapadia, Scientist, NHB, Mr. Subodh Shah, Manager Marketing, GAIC, Mr. Vithal Kharadia, President, AIVDMDA & members of the Association.

Dr. Sudhanshu, DGM, APEDA, Mumbai welcomed all the stakeholders of dehydrated exports and briefed about the purpose of the meeting.

Mr. Sunil Kumar, General Manager, APEDA welcomed the participants. He suggested that the exporters should start branding their products for getting more returns in the international market.

Dr. Tarun Bajaj, General Manager, APEDA briefed about the cluster development programme for promoting export of dehydrated products. He also informed about the brand promotion programme in Mexican Market being organized by APEDA. He suggested that interested ex-porter may participate in the promotion programme.

The issues related to removal of MEIS Scheme, charges to be paid by the exporter under new Gujarat Bio Diversity Act, Market Promotion programme for dehydrated products, issue re-garding increasing the TSS level of raw onion and sufficient coverage under ECGC were dis-cussed in the Outreach programme.


Outreach Programme on Export ofPomegranate

An outreach programme on pomegranates was organized on 29th September 2015 at Sinnar, Nashik Dist. in a farmer cluster of 1200. The programme was organized in association with

MSAMB, supported by GIZ, YuvaMitra and Farmer Produce Organized (FPO). The programme was attended by senior officials of APEDA, MSAMB, NRC-Pomegranates, NABARD, DMI, State Horticulture Depart-ment, MahaAnar, VAFA, exporters and farmers.

On this occasion, Dr. Sudhanshu, Dy. General Manager, APEDA gave a brief background of the programme. Dr. Tarun Bajaj, General Manager, APEDA, New Delhi explained the potential of export of pomegranate and the need for cluster development. He further mentioned that such programmes were organized in the fruit and vegetable and other products in the recent past with an objective to develop export. Ms. Vinita Sudhanshu, AGM, APEDA, made a detailed presentation to apprise the participants about the activities and financial assistance schemes of APEDA.

Dr. R K Pal, Director, National Research Center for Pomegrnate (NRC-P), made a presentation on the research initiataives taken by NRC-P and highlighted the potential of fresh and value added products of pomegranate. Mr. Chandrasekhar Bari, DGM, MSAMB, Nashik highlighted the potential of pomegranate production in the Nashik region and the support offered by MSAMB to the farmers and exporters. Mr. B K Joshi, Assistant Marketing Advisor, DMI assured their support to the pomegranate exporters by their department. Mr G GHande, State Hor-ticulture Department, Govt. of Maharashtra made a detailed presentation on the initiatives taken by Horticulture Department for production of export oriented production of pomegran-ates. Mr. PrabhakarChandne, Chairman, MahaAnar highlighted the issues of and concerns in the supply chain of pomegranates.


Mr. Jagadish Srivastava, General Manager, NABARD highlighted the support of NABARD to Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs) and the growth of YuvaMitra in the pomegranate supply chain.

Mr. Sunil Pote, Director, YuvaMitra explained the initiatives taken by their FPO in providing extensive support to the 1200 farmers in providing support to 1200 farmers for quality pro-duction to pomegranates and its marketing. Number of issues was raised by the various stakeholders and the same were addressed.

Mr. D M Sable, AGM, and MSAMB, briefed the farmers about various issues in the local lan-guage. It was suggested that such programmes should be conducted on regular basis.


Outreach Programme in Guwahati

An outreach program on export promotion of agricultural and processed food products from India was organised by APEDA in Guwahati on 11th August 2015. Main aim of the event was

to sensitize about the role and activities of APEDA for export promotion, give an overview of the export scenario of agricultural and processed food products, procedure for exports of APEDA’s scheduled products, including financial assistance scheme available with APEDA and similar govt. organization/ Depts. such as Spices Board, NHB, FSSAI, SFAC, DGFT, Customs etc.

The program was attended by more than 50 participants, which included entrepreneurs, ex-porters, govt. officials from Dept. of Horticulture - Assam, Dept. of Trade & Commerce - Mani-pur, Central Institute of Horticulture - Nagaland, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship - Assam, Dept. of Plant Quarantine and Storage, Directorate of Marketing & Inspection, Indian Institute of Plantation Man- agement.

Mr. S.S. Nayyar, General Manager APEDA and Mrs. Sunita Rai, Asstt. General Manager APEDA and officials from Spices Board, NHB, FSSAI, SFAC, DGFT, Customs and NRC on Pig deliberated on various export incentive schemes, customs documentation process, registration & licensing process etc.

The program was also attended by Mr. Swapnanil Barua, IAS, Export Commissioner, Dept of In-dus- tries & Commerce, Govt. of Assam and Managing Director, Assam Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. While appreciating the initiative taken by APEDA in organizing the outreach program, he emphasized the need for export of value added products and the potential that exists in NER.

In the question answer session that had followed the program, queries of the participants on issues pertaining to APEDA, DGFT, FSSAI, SFAC etc. were satisfactorily handled by the officials from the concerned organisations.


Outreach Programme in Patna, Bihar

A one day outreach program on export promotion of agricultural and processed food prod-ucts from India was organised by APEDA in association with the Deptt. of Agriculture, Govt.

of Bihar in conference hall of BAMETI, Patna, Bihar from 25-26 August 2015. Objective of or-ganising the event was to sensitize about the role and activities of APEDA for export promo-tion, give an overview of the export scenario of agricultural and processed food products, procedure for export of APEDA’s schedule products, including financial assistance scheme available with APEDA and similar Govt. organization/ Deptts.

The programme was inaugurated by the Agricultural Production Commissioner, Govt. of Bihar in presence of the stakeholders including representatives from APEDA, DGFT, Customs, Air-ports Au- thority of India, NPPO, RPQS, National Research Centre for Litchi and Private Entre-preneurs like Shakti Sudha and Pristin Logistics - Patna.

The program was attended by Sh. Vijoy Prakash, IAS, Agriculture Production Commissioner, Govt. of Bihar, Sh. B. Kartikey, IAS, Director Agriculture, Govt. of Bihar, Sh. Arvinder Singh, IFS Director Horticulture, Govt. of Bihar and around 125 participants, which included entrepre-neurs, exporters and government officials from various departments.

Presentations were made by Mr. S. S. Nayyar, General Manager APEDA and Mr. C.B. Singh, As-stt. General Manager APEDA highlighting the role/schemes of APEDA for the benefit of trade.In the question answer session following the program, exporters expressed the need for set-ting up infrastructure facilities like packhouses and labs etc. for the benefit of trade. It was informed that APEDA had schemes under which assistance can be provided for such kinds of activities. Copies of financial assistance schemes were distributed to the participants.

Sh. Vijoy Prakash, Agriculture Production Commissioner, Govt. of Bihar stressed the need to strengthen the concept/strategy on export promotion from the state and assured that full co-operation shall be extended to the stakeholders.


Sensitization Programmes Conducted on National Prgramme for Organic Production (NPOP) for

the Himalayan StatesWith an objective to reach the organic stakeholders and Government Officials regarding

the mandatory requirement of certification of organic products under NPOP, five out-reach sensitization programmes were conducted in the Himalayan States.

The aim was to1. Create awareness about the requirement of production and certification standards to be

followed under National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) by the grower groups and individual producers, processors and traders.

2. Sensitization of organic stakeholders including State Government Officials, farmers, traders etc regarding export potential of organic products.

3. To know about the problems faced by the stakeholders in meeting the standard require-ments, limitation in export of organic products, market access issues etc.

The details of the programmes conducted are given below:

S.No Date State Place Venue No. of participants APEDA Officers

1 27.7.2015 J&K JammuEntrepreneurship

Development Institute, Jammu

70 Dr. PVSM Gouri Dr. Saswati Bose

2 05.08.2015HimachalPradesh Palampur CSIR- IHBT 70 Dr. PVSM Gouri

Dr. Saswati Bose

3 11.08.2015 Uttarakhand Dehradun Krishak Bhawan 70Dr. Saswati Bose

Ms. Reeba Abraham

4 25.8.2015North Eastern

States GuwahatiHotel Gateway

Grandeur 60 Dr. Saswati Bose Ms. Sunita Rai

5 02.09.2015 Sikkim Gangtok Keepsa Residency 110Dr. PVSM GouriDr. Saswati Bose Ms. Sunita Rai


Outcome1. The participants found the sensitization

programme beneficial as this was first kind of such programme exclusive for their State.

2. This programme provided a platform to the organic stakeholders of the State of Uttarakhand to clarify their apprehension and doubts regarding the procedures and requirements of organic certification un-der the National programme for Organic Production.

3. It was felt that the stakeholders lacked ex-per- tise in managing grower groups and therefore a training for the service provid-ers of grower group was required to en-sure compliance to the NPOP certification requirements.

4. The participants also expressed the view that this was the first step of sensitization and re- quested that APEDA may consider organizing interface with producers and exporters in the next level.

5. The programme also helped to sensitize the farmers and other stakeholders of the State regarding the vast potential of their State in cultivating various organic prod-ucts.

6. The various concerns and issues raised by the respective State Governments and other stakeholders were noted by the concerned APEDA Officials.


Capacity Building ProgrammeOrganized in Mumbai for Exports of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables to

EU Countries

Considering the problems faced in export of fresh fruits and vegetables to EU countries

APEDA took an initiative for capacity build-ing of the concerned stakeholders. A second training programme through video confer-encing was organized on 21st August 2015 at UK Business Council, Mumbai . The Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), a De-partment of UK Government responsible for monitoring the imports in UK deputed one of their experts for imparting the training.

The training programme was organised in two batches. First batch was comprised of Quaran tine Officials, concerned officials from State Government of Maharashtra and APEDA of-ficers and second batch was of exporters. The training was imparted on important top-ics such as EU plant, health import controls, checks in import controls at point of entry, harmful organisms in India and detection of harmful organisms.

The capacity building programme was found use- ful by the participants as it enabled the exporters to refresh the requirement to be complied with for export of fresh fruits and vegetables to EU countries. The training pro-gramme also enabled the quarantine officials to understand the process followed by the FERA inspectors while carrying out the in-spections for import clearance of fresh fruits and vegetables.


Sensitization Programme forNewly Registered Members

To sensitize the exporters, APEDA Regional Office, Mumbai initiated a sensitization pro-gramme for the newly registered members. The first programme was organized in March,

2015. The second programme was organized on 18th August 2015. Dr. Sudhanshu, Deputy Gen-eral Manager, gave the opening remarks and Mrs. Vinita Sudhanshu, Asstt. General Manager made a detailed presentation about APEDA’s activities and role of APEDA in Agri Exports. 25 participants have attended the sensitization programme. The initiative taken by APEDA regard-ing sensitization programme was well appreciated by the participants.


Interaction Meeting of Stakeholders of Oranges at

Karanjaghadge, Wardha

An Interaction meeting of the stakeholders of oranges was organized on 16th Septem-

ber 2015 to discuss the issues related to ex-port oforanges.

Interaction meeting was joined by Dr. Anil Bonde, MLA, Mosrhi, Dr. Tarun Bajaj, Gen-eral Manager APEDA, Dr. Sudhanshu, Dy. General Manager APEDA, Mumbai, Mrs. Vin-ita Sudhanshu, Asstt. General Manager APE-DA, Mumbai, Director, NRCC, Nagpur, MD, MSAMB, Chairman Mahaorange, State Horti-culture Department, Dy. Commissioner (Rev-enue), Amravati Division, MD, Maharashtra State Orange Growers Associa- tions, VAFA, Exporters and growers.

Dr.Sudhanshu, welcomed all the stakeholders in the supply chain of export of oranges and

briefed about the purpose of the meeting. He informed that this is an initiative of Min-istry of Commerce and MOC&I has desired to organize a Stakeholders Consultation Meet-ing with all the stakeholders involved in the supply chain of export of oranges for discus-sion on issues/constraints faced in export of oranges. He briefed about the initiatives of APEDA to strengthen the supply chain of agri-culture products

Mr. Milind Akre, Managing Director, MSAMB, thanked all the stakeholders to join the meet-ing and informed about the initiatives of MSAMB for boosting export of oranges from Maharashtra. Dr. Tarun Bajaj, General Man-ager APEDA briefed about the cluster devel-opment programme for promoting export of oranges. He mentioned that this programme


has been organized on the initiatives of Hon’ble Cabinet Minister, Mr. Nitin Gadkari for orga-nizing the supply chain of production and marketing of oranges in the country.

Mr. Sridhar Thakre Executive Partner, Mahaorganges has made a detailed presentation on sce-nario, issues and constraints of oranges in Vidarbha region. Mr. Ravindra Thakre, Dy. Com-missioner (Revenue) Amravati Division and Programme Director, CAIM made a detailed pre-sentation on the initiatives taken in the supply chain of oranges and other agri produce under CAIM. Dr. M.S.Ladaniya, Director, NRC for Oranges, Nagpur addressed the participants and informed them about the initiatives taken by NRC in the past for quality production of oranges. Mr. Gov- ind Hande, State Horticulture Department, made a presentation on the initiatives by State Horticulture Department in strengthening the supply chain of agri produce of Maharash-tra. Represen- tative of TATA Consultancy Services made a presentation on the Mobile Krishi

Application and briefed about the initiatives taken by TCS in identified pomegranate clusters.

Mrs. Vinita Sudhanshu, AGM APEDA made a detailed presentation on Role of APEDA in Agri Exports and sensitized the participants about APEDA’s activities.

Outcome of the interaction programme• Three trial shipments would be sent in the coming season by three exporters, M/s Bom-

bay Exports to Dubai, M/s ASAR Brothers to Bahrain and M/s Essar Exports to Singapore. Mahaorange will provide quality oranges as per the requirement of exporters. MSAMB to coordinate between Mahaorange and exporters.

• CAIM to conduct trial shipment to Netherlands with the support of MSAMB and APEDA.• An orange promotion programme to be or-ganized in the coming season by APEDA, MSAMB

and Mahaorange in Bangladesh and Dubai.• Organizing of training/ awareness programme for export oriented production of oranges

in the production cluster by State Horticulture Department, NRCC, MSAMB and Mahaor-ange.

• Mahaorange will help CAIM efforts of marketing of oranges in the major cities in the coun-try and conduct same for other than CAIM districts.

• Publicizing HORTISAP among the orange growers by Horticulture Department.


Stakeholder’s Meeting on RMP onGrapes for 2015-16 season

In order to decide the plan of action for the forthcoming grape season 2015 - 2016, APEDA Regional Office Mumbai in association with NRCG, Pune organized a meeting of all the stake

holders of the grape industry at ICARNRC for Grapes, Pune on 7th September 2015. The meet-ing was attended by55 participants. ICAR-NRC meeting was chaired by Dr. S.D. Sawant, Direc-tor, ICAR-NRC for Grapes.

On the occasion Dr. Sawant welcomed the representative officials from APEDA, State Govern-ment, ICAR-NRC Grapes, nominated laboratories, Grape Exporters Association of India (GEAI) and the representatives from the pesticide manufacturing companies and presented a brief overview of the last export grape season and the activities undertaken by the NRL in last one year.

Dr. Sudhanshu, Deputy General Manager, APEDA, Mumbai addressed the participants and shared the initiatives taken by APEDA Mumbai for addressing the issues related to export of grapes and the initiatives of APEDA export promotion of grapes .

The meeting was joined by Mr. Devendra Prasad, Asstt. General Manager, APEDA, New Delhi, Mrs. Vinita Sudhanshu, Asstt. General Manager, APEDA, Mumbai, Mr. Rohit Mashalakar, State Horticulture Department, Mr. J.L. Khapre, President, IGEA, Laboratory representatives, Grape Exporters and representatives from few pesticide manufacturing company.


Sensitization Programmes on Mango and Okra Traceability

System under Hortinet Organized in Bangalore on 11th,

Hyderabad on 12th and Mumbai on 20th August 2015

Sensitization programmes on Mango and Okra traceability organized in Bangalore

Agenda of the Programme:1. To demonstrate the procedure covered in the software for export of Mango and Okra for

meeting the requirement of the European Union.2. Seeking the feedback from the stakeholders on procedures covered in the traceability sys-

tem.

Following stakeholders were present: State Government Department Officials, Exporters, Farmers, Pack houses representatives, Laboratory representatives, NPPO officials etc.

In Bangalore, the programme was organized on 11th August 2015 at Horticulture Information Center (HIC), Lalbagh. Shri K.M. Parashiva Murthy, Additional Director (Fruits) & MD, Karnata-ka Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Ltd and Dr. D.K. Nagaraju, Assistant Direc-tor (Ento), Plant Quarantine Station, Bangalore were also present.


In Hyderabad, the programme was organized on 12th August 2015 at Horticulture Training Institute, Department of Horticulture, Govt. of Telangana Red Hills, Beside Nampally Court Hyderabad, Telangana State. Shri. L. Venkat Rami Reddy, Commissioner of Horticulture, Govt. of Telangana, Mr. Hari- nath Reddy, Dy. Director of Horticulture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. K. Sreenivasu, DDH (Fruits), Govt. of Telangana, was also present.

In Mumbai, the programme was organized on 20th August 2015 at Hotel Fortune, Plot No.16, -D, Sector 19, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra 400705. Dr. J. P. Singh, Joint Director (Ento.) & Dr. Shabbir Ahmed, Scientist, NRL Pune were also present.

Over the past few years, EU has been reporting an interception of pests and pesticides resi-dues in okra, mango and some other products exported from India. As a sequel to arrest this trend, it was decided to strengthen our export certification system. Taking a clue from the success of the


GrapeNet traceability system for grape ex-ports to the EU, APEDA introduced residue monitoring plan for Okra exports effective from 7th March, 2013 which has been proved successful thus far and interceptions have been controlled. As for Mango, EU banned import from India along with four other vege-table items effective 1.5.2014.

Considering the problems faced in export of Mango & Okra to EU countries, APEDA took an initiative for developing the traceability software for export of Mango and Okra. Both the softwares have been developed and made ready for demonstration.

Two officials from Computer & Information division were deputed for organizing demon-stration of software before the stakeholders of the Mango & Okra in Bangalore, Hyder-abad and Mumbai.

Detailed presentations were made for intro-

duction of the system. After presentation, live demonstration of the software was organized wherein step by step process were demon-strated with role of the each official of the stakeholder involved with the generation of various certificates through the system.

The demonstration was quite interactive where in the entire stakeholders were in-volved in discussions, their feedbacks were invited for further improvement in the sys-tem. The feedback received during the sen-sitization programme is being evaluated for incorporated in the system.


APEDA’s participation in WorldFood Moscow, Russia

APEDA participated in World Food Moscow 2015, Russia during September 14-17,

2015. Shri R K Mondal and Ms. Roseleen Da-vid coordinated APEDA’s participation in the fair. APEDA displayed a range of food products like basmati rice, fresh Potatoes, processed foods, ,Dehydrated Vegetables, Ground Nuts, Peanut Butter, Ready to eat products, snack foods, sweets, etc. APEDA organized promo-tion of Indian Basmati Rice, Indian snacks.

The following samples and products were displayed in the APEDA booth:• Fresh Potatoes• Processed food products• Ground Nuts• Dehydrated Vegetables• Basmati rice• Biscuits, Indian sweets & Namkeen• Ready to eat products• Peanut butter

Wet sampling of Indian Basmati RiceBringing out India’s true flavour, arrange-ments were made for promoting Indian Bas-mati Rice through an exclusive wet sampling. An Indian restaurant was engaged for prepar-ing both vegetarian and non vegetarian Biry-ani which was served to the visitors during the event. The Basmati preparation attracted lots of visitors who made beeline for testing of unique cuisine. The visitors appreciated the Aroma and taste of In- dian Basmati Rice.

Involvement and support of Embassy of In-dia, MoscowAPEDA was in regular touch with Indian Em-bassy and have been taking their help and guidance for the participation in the event. The Senior officials from Indian Embassy vis-ited APEDA pavilion and discussed various issues with Indian participants to have a bet-ter market access in Russia market for Indian products.


PRO-FOOD- PACK & AG BIZ 2015Colombo, Sri Lanka

Inauguration of APEDA pavilion by High Commissioner of India, Shri. Y K Sinha, Deputy High Commissioner of India Shri. Arindam Bagchi. First Secreatry (C & E) Shri. Kartik Pande , Mr. N C

Lohakare AGM and Mr Saurav Agarwal, Manager Accounts, APEDA

The Sri Lankan Food Processors’ Association (SLFPA) together with Lanka Exhibition and Confer-ence Services. Pvt. Ltd organized (LECS) the 14th edition Pro-Food/ProPack & Ag-Biz 2015 exhi-bition from 07th to 09th August 2015 at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

APEDA has participated in this events. The exhibition participatation was co-ordinated by Mr. N C Lohakare, Assistant General Manager and Mr. Saurav Agrawal, Manager Accounts. A total no of 10 exporters in the sector of fresh fruit and vegetables, processed foods, Apple juice concen-trates, Rice and its product participated through APEDA and displayed their products through their booths at APEDA pavilion. On the eve of the exhibition LECS also organized a Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) with potential importer of Sri Lanka in association with the High Commission of India. Mr. Kartik Pandy, First Secretary, (Commerce & Economics), HCI, Colombo, joined the BSM and appreciated the efforts of APEDA in participating the exhibition.

In the exhibition there were a total of 200 participants (both local and foreign) to exhibit 280 stalls. During the exhibition approximate 30, 000 visitors attended the exhibition. APEDA’s pavil-ion showcased with processed food like Pickles, Masalas, Chutany's, Appalams, Mayonnaise, Mouth Freshener, Appetizers, Digestives, sweet corn, baby corn, Vegetables, Fruits, Basmati, Non Basmati Rice, fresh Apple, Apple Juice Concentrate and Dairy and dairy products like skimmed milk powder, ghee etc. The exporter namely, M/s. STC INDIA PVT. LTD, Mumbai and M/s. Y-Cook India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore and M/s. HP Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corpo-ration Limited, Shimla exclusively organized the wet sampling of Mouth freshener, Sweet corn and Apple juice etc respectively of their products displayed in their stands. Lots of visitors tested these products and a large number of buyers from Sri Lankan Market were interested in these products.


Promotion ofRice in the

India Show at Nigeria

India Show was organised by CII at the Eko Con- vention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos from Au-

gust 25-27, 2015. For generic promotion of the export of rice from India to Nigeria and other countries in West Africa, participation of All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA was supported financially from Basmati Development Fund (BDF). Director, Basmati Export Development Founda-tion (BEDF) was deputed to represent BEDF in the event.

About 100 organisations from India representing various industrial sectors participated in the India Show. AIREA pavilion was named as “Rice from In-dia – The Largest Exporters of the World “with logo of APEDA and AIREA on both sides.

Most of the senior government officers, farmer associations and rice millers showed interest in sourcing seeds of good varieties of paddy and assistance for crop production as well as plant & ma-chinery for rice milling.

As regards the potential for import of rice into Ni-geria, the annual consumption requirement in the country is about 5 million MT. The domestic supply is estimated at 3 million MT. In past, the bulk of Nigerian rice import was sourced from India, fol-lowed by Thailand. However, due to ban on export of non-Basmati rice from India from April 2008 to September 2011, Vietnam took over as leading rice supplier to Nigeria. It is un- derstood that major imports into Nigeria are of parboiled rice. A signifi-cant quantity enters the country from Benin which also imports large quantities of rice from India.

In June 2015, the Central Bank of Nigeria vide circular dt. June 23, 2015 notified inclusion of some imported goods and services on the list of items not valid for foreign exchange in the Nigerian Foregin Exchange Markets . This circular made the quota allocated for import of rice in May 2015 as inef-fective. Therefore, no import of rice into Nigeria directly has taken place during last three months. The government in Benin consid- ered imports into Benin as normal trade activity irrespective of the end use for consumption in Benin or re-export to Nigeria.

Workshop atHanoi–National

Branding of Rice

Workshop on “National Branding Strategy for rice from Vietnam: Linking the world

image of Vietnam to high quality rice” was organised on September 22, 2015 at Hanoi in the context of approval by the Vietnam gov-ernment of National Project on Developing a Vietnamese National Brand for rice by 2020 with vision to 2030. The project aims to im-prove the image recognition of Vietnamese rice and its competitiveness as well as ex-panding market share in the world market.

The workshop was organised by the Depart-ment of Postharvest and Salt under the Min-istry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam, Ministry of Science and Technology and MALICA. In Session 2 of the workshop “International and National Experience on National Branding Strategy for Agricultural Products” a slot was kept for speakers from India and Thailand. Mr. A.K. Gupta, Director (BEDF) was invited to speak on Strategies of National Branding of Basmati rice in India. He made a presentation about historical perspec-tive, institutional arrangement for protection of Intellectual Property vested in Basmati and building of a national brand. This was a good forum to learn about strategies followed by two major exporters of rice viz. Viet Nam and Thailand.


India’s participation in CodexMeeting CAC 38 at Centre for

InternationalConvention (CICG) Geneva

The Indian Delegation was represented by Following Officials:

Mr Y.S Malik CEO, FSSAIMr Perumal Karthikeyan AD, FSSAI Mr Sudharshan Spices BoardMr Bhushan Tyagi AC, DAHD Mr Sunil Bakshi, DGM. NDDB Mr U.K.Vats DGM APEDA

The 38th session of Codex Meeting, which is organized on annual basis was held at Geneva. The meeting was chaired by Ms Awilo Ochieng Pernet , supported by secretariat officials. Di-rector World Health Orhanisation(WHO) and Food & Agricultural Organisation(FAO) were also present throughout the 6 days of the meeting except on 10th July 2015 , which was left open for side meetings only.

On the first day after speeches from Chairman Owilo and director WHO and FAO, the Agen-da for discussions during the upcoming 6 days was adopted by representatives of member countries present in the session. During the inaugural speeches, the importance of scien-tific ways of addressing various plant and ani-mal health diseases, awareness of the hygiene and publicity common causes of diseases and way of addressing them were elaborated by speakers. There were Information paper from WHO/FAO and OIE about their roles and their contribution towards major health concerns in the world also circulated to members for Information.

On day 1 Agendas 1-5 were discussed and an- nouncements regarding schedules of election

/ selection of officials , Chairman, Vice chair-man’s and 6 Regional Codex coordination Committees as well as regional representa-tives on Geographical Basis were declared.

Since adoption of agenda 1-5 were already discussed during the circulation of agendas and seeking comments from member coun-tries, they were adopted straight away.

Agenda 6C Maximum residue limits for a veterinary drug used in dairy cows to increase milk production

Somatotropin is a hormone that stimulates growth in humans and animals. In some places, bovine somatotorpin (BST) is used in cows to increase milk production. Debates and opinions took place during Codex 38 on day 2-3 of the session. India’s interest was on development of standard of MRLs for Recom-binant bovine somatotropins (rbSTs) based upon data and scientific evidence of no harm-ful effects on animal health.

The Standard was not being agreed by mem-ber countries as sufficient proven data was not available to show that rBST has no effect on animal and human health. There were rep-resentations from USA, latin American and Af-rican continents in support of adoption of this standard at step 8 as the scientific evidence were generated by scientific body of the Co-dex The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) over previous few years showing no harm to human and animals for use of Rbst in bovine animals.


While arguments against the use of rBST were presented by India , China and EU on harmful effects to animals and subsequent effect on Human Health. The arguments against the use of rBST went on for one full day and an-other half day. India represented by Official of DAHD mentioned that India is undertak-ing compilation through a study to assess the harmful effects of the hormone rBST on Animal Health. The study would be sent to Codex/JECFA to elaborate India’s viewpoint against the use of hormone rBST.

The decision taken at the meeting is as below “The Commission recognises the validity of JEC- FA risk assessments as the sound scien-tific basis for its deliberations on rBST. Never-theless the Commission as the international risk management body recognises that con-sensus has not been reached on the adoption of the draft MRLs at its 38th session. In rBST at step 8 to provide further time to facilitate a possible consensus. The draft MRLs will con-tinue to be on the agenda of the Commission and open to discussion.light of the fact that consensus has not been reached, the Com-mission agrees to hold the draft MRLS open to attain consensus.

Agenda 5(b) General standard for processed cheese(Proposed draft)

As per the Agenda discussions were held on the standard of processed cheese to be devel-oped by Committee on Milk & Milk Products (CCMMP) led by NewZealand.

India represented by official of NDDB , raised the point of inclusion of ingredient spice (Chil-lies, garlic, Mint etc) under section 3.2 “ per-mitted ingredients”. It was highlighted that in footnote 5 flavouring ingredients and/or oth-er characterizing ingredients may be added in accordance with section 4.5 of the general

standard for use of dairy terms (GSUDT) in the labelling section of the proposed draft stan-dard.

Elections for the officials/ countries for vari-ous organizations/specific bodies were also held simultaneously in CAC 38 Following were selectedChairperson Codex: Ms Awilo Ochieng Pernet (Switzerland)Vice Chairpersons: Mr Guilherme Antonio da Costa Jr.(Brazil) : Ms yayoi Tsujiyama ( Japan) : Mr Mahamadou Sako (Mali)

Members of Executive Committee Elected onGeographic basis

Africa - NigeriaAsia - Malaysia (Elected by nomination from CCASIA - by internal election)EU - NorwayLatin America and Caribbbean - Mexico North East - LebanonNorth America - CanadaSouth West Pacific - New Zealand

Regional Coordinators

Africa - KenyaAsia - India( Nominated by CCASIA) EU - The NetherlandsLAC - Chile Near East - IranNorth America & SW Pacific - Vanuatu


APEDA’sparticipation in 10th Annapoorna

2015 World of Food, India

APEDA Regional Office Mumbai organised its participation in Annapoorna 2015 held

from 14-16, September 2015 at Mumbai ex-hibition centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. APEDA organized its participation by taking a space of 54 Sq. Mtrs. for setting up of its pavilion with table space for individual exporters. Six exporters of various products such as Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Frozen products, Man-go pulp, Pickles and chutneys, Ready to eat food products, Cereal products, Snacks and Sweets and a range of other processed food products have participated through APEDA in this event. A range of APEDA scheduled prod-ucts mainly processed food products, cereals, fresh fruits and vegetables and flowers were showcased at APEDA booth. A good number of visitors visited APEDA stall. The visitors were attended by responding to their queries and APEDA activities were explained to them. Participation of APEDA enabled in strengthen-ing its branding in Indian agri and processed food sector.

On the occasion of the event, a Seminar was organized on ‘Food Safety beyond boundar-ies: Time to Rethink, Reevaluate & Resolve issues’, on 14th September, 2015 . APEDA was provided an opportunity to chair one of the sessions on International Trade: Decoding the hindrances & impact. Dr. Sudhanshu chaired the session and made a theme presentation on the topic of the session for opening the platform for other presenters. Other present-ers in the session were Joint Director, EIA, Mumbai Mr. V.K. Singh , Food safety expert Mr. Prabodh halde, Mr. Sita Ram Dixit, Chair-man, Consumers society of India

Buyer-SellerMeet at Jaipur

APEDA in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Rajasthan State

Agricultural Marketing Board (RSAMB) had organised Agri Commodities based Buyer Sell-er Meet at Durgapura State Agricultural Man-agement Institute, Jaipur on 15th July 2015. More than 200 farmers, corporate executives and businessmen were reported to be pres-ent at the event. The meet was inaugurated by Sh. Prabhulal Saini, State Agriculture Min-ister. In his inaugural address, he appreciated the role being played by the agencies in or-ganising such kind of meet. Referring to APE-DA’s role being played for the development of exports of agro products from the country, he advised the exporters to avail benefit un-der APEDA’s schemes.

Mr. S.S. Nayyar, General Manager APEDA made a presentation on Indian agri trade scenario and APEDA’s activities for promot-ing exports of food products from India. This was followed by a lively question answer ses-sion in which issues raised by the participants were attended to.

On this occasion CII Rajasthan State Council Chairman, Shri Suresh Poddar, Director and Head of State, Mr. Nitin Gupta, Administra-tor Rajasthan State Agricultural Marketing Board Shri Dinesh Yadav, CII National Com-mittee Co-Chairman and Managing Director of the Food and Agriculture Keventer Mr. Mayank Jalan, Secretary and Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kuldeep Ranka Rajasthan government and other officials were present. Director General of the National Institute of Agricultural Management Mrs. Irina Garg, also addressed the meet.


APEDA’s participation in FOODBIZIndia 2015, Vijayawada,

Andhra Pradesh.

FOODBIZ conference was held on 10th- 11th of September. The Conference was divided into four sessions.

Session – I : Food Industries, Opportunities & Technological Trends.Session – II Latest Trends & Technologies in Storage Handling and Packaging Session – III Recent Advances in Food Processing Technologies and its Advantages Session – IV International Concerns and Regulations in Food Processing SectorSession – IV was chaired by Mr.T.Sudhakar, Deputy General Manager, APEDA, RO, Hyderabad made a presentation on “APEDA role in processing of Agri Produce and Export Opportunities”

The Spice Board has established a Spice Park near Guntur to promote value added spices. Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) has received approval from MOF-PI to establish Mega Food Park in Krishna District Other presenters in this were Dr.V.Sunder-shan Rao, Deputy Director, NIN, Hyderabad who spoke on Food Standards and Regulations.

Post Harvest by improving yield quality through better crop inputs and techniques – Mr.Palat Vi- jayaraghavan, Founder & CEO, Lawrencedale Agro Processing India (P) Ltd., Instant qual-ity assaying of Agri commodities using electric devices – Mr.Sundara Rajan, CEO, Janani Agri Serve, Consultnat C-DAC Kolkata.

The Programme was attended by 200 participants including representing the industry, new En-tre- preneurs, students from Gudlavalleru Engineering College. Shri Koneru Sreedhar, Mayor, Municipal Corporation of Vijayawada inaugurated the 1st day programme. A small exhibition was also organized by Manufacturers of PUR/IR panels, Weather Risk Management Services, Halal India Private Limited, Sri Pumps & Fittings Industrial Corporation Services, SIDBI, Best Engineering Technologies, CFTRI, Spice Board & State Bank of India.

The second day was devoted to dairy industry.


APEDA’s Participation In FOOD PRO 2015 Chennai

APEDA Regional Office, Bangalore coordinated and participated in the 11th Edition

of South India’s premier exhibition on Food Processing FOOD PRO 2015 from 28th to 30th August 2015 at Chennai Trade Center, Chen-nai. The event was organized by C.I.I., Chen-nai.

The event showcased the latest technology in food processing, cold storage and warehous-ing, logistics and related products exhibited by large number of Indian and International companies at the exhibition spread across 60000 sq.ft. area and the event was visited by large number of domestic and international buyers/visitors.

APEDA was allotted 27 sq. mtrs stall in the event and registered exporters of APEDA were given space within APEDA stall and opportuni-ty to participate and display their products/brochure/literature. The below mentioned exporters participated through APEDA :

M/s. Tamilnadu Banana Federation

Chocolate flavoured banana bars, value added banana products

M/s. JK Bio Farm Organic Amla Juice, Amla Powder, Amla Candy

M/s. KB Livestock Black Hen Meat and Eggs(Kadaknath)

M/s. Maagrita Exports

Dehydrated fruits prod-ucts, fruit jam

M/s. Kannan Flora Jasmine flowers

We had also displayed samples of gherkins and Mayura Brand cereal based health mix powders. AGM (PW) represented APEDA and managed APEDA stall on all three days of the exhibition. Information was provided to all the visitors. The response to the event was very encouraging and positive and there were international visitors from Korea and Holland. Many foreign buyers visited APEDA stall.

Domestic as well as a few international busi-ness enquiries were generated by the export-ers who participated through APEDA stall. We are seeking detailed feedback from the ex-porters on their participation and enquiries received. Overall the theme and the event was very well organized and the purpose of the participation was achieved. APEDA can regularly participate in this event and pro-mote our exporters through our stall. FOOD PRO provides a good platform for the export-ers to get an exposure to international buyers and to generate serious business enquiries.


Signing of MoU for Setting up of Processing Unit of Frozen Fruits& IQF at Mangalore, Haridwar,

Uttarkhand

Implementation of Web-based Software “Meat.Net”

An MoU was signed between APEDA and the Department of Horticulture & Food Process-ing, Government of Uttarakhand on 28th September, 2015. This is in regard to a project

for setting up of processing unit of frozen fruits and IQF at Mangalore, Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

The total cost of the project is Rs 938.67 lakhs of which APEDA is contributing Rs 800.00 lakhs. The project is likely to help in export of valued added frozen foods form Uttarakhand. Another MoU was signed between APEDA and the Rajya Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti Uttar Pradesh on 19th August, 2015 for a project for setting up integrated pack house with IQF facility at Jhansi in UP. The total project cost is Rs 1209 lakhs of which APEDA is contributing Rs 800 lakhs.

APEDA has initiated implementation of Meat. Net since April 2015 which is an internet based electronic service offered by APEDA to the stakeholders for facilitating issue of on-

line Health Certificate for each export consignment. This system has been developed in consul-tation with the stakeholders after various interactions in the major production areas and aims to bring the transparency in the export of buffalo meat only from the authorized and registered meat plants. Under this system, capacity of each processing plant is fixed and the plant will be able to export only such authorized quantity. The system is developed to help capturing au-thentic data of meat exports from the meat plants located in various states.

Implementation of software depends on the continued cooperation from the Animal Husband-ry Departments of the states for issuing of online animal health certificate from the location of the plant.

Major meat producing states and their State Animal Husbandry Departments have already started using Meat.Net where the Veterinary Doctors, assigned to export oriented units, have been provided with the user ID and password by APEDA to issue Veterinary Health Certificate online.

For the remaining states where the Meat.Net is yet to be implemented, a one day training pro-gramme was organized by APEDA at its Head Quarters, New Delhi on 18th September, 2015 with stakeholders in the state of Bihar, Haryana, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Kolkata, Bangalore and Delhi. To understand the system concerned officials of the State Veterinary Departments attended the programme. The information on Meat. Net including demonstration and user manual is hosted on APEDA’s website www.apeda.gov.in Meat.Net icon.


North East Food Processing andTechnology Summit

The North East Food Processing and Tech-nology Summit was organized by the Fed-

eration of Industry and Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), in association with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI), Govern- ment of India, powered by APEDA on 19th of September at Guwahati to build capacities of local entrepreneurs and in-dustry in the Northeastern Region by bringing in modern techniques to attain commercial competencies and optimal exploitation of ex-otic horticultural crops grown inthe region.

Shri Ranglal Jamuda, IAS, Secretary, Food Pro- cessing Industries, Government of India, was the Chief Guest for the event. Shri R.T Jindal, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary Industries & Commerce, Government of Assam, Shri V.B Pyarelal, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Ag-riculture, Power, Panchayat& Rural Develop-ment, Government of Assam, Shri Swapnanil Baruah, IAS, Commissioner, Industries and Commerce, Government of Assam presided over as the Guest of Honor where in the sta-tus of the food processing industries in the NER was being highlighted by these dignitar-

ies. The summit also marked the presence of senior govt. officials from the Central, N.E States and players from the food processing industries. The summit was also marked by the presence of large number of entrepre-neurs from neighbouring States of Megha-laya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Summit covered three important sessions related to Food Processing in the North East Region Technological Prospects, Processed Food Finance and Marketing and Success Stories of the Region in the Food Processing Industries. Ms. Sunita Rai, Assistant General Manager, APEDA presented in details the fi-nancial assistance scheme of APEDA including the Export Develop- ment Fund of NER


National Seminar on Promotion ofAgri and Horti Exports from India

PHD House, New DelhiNational Seminar on Promotion of Agri and Horti Exports on 2nd September 2015 from India

was organised at PHD House, New Delhi. The objective of the seminar was to promote ag-ricultural and horticultural exports from India and set a long term strategy, leading to inclusive growth.

It was highlighted that India has a strong production base of many products like milk, fruits & vegetables, wheat, rice, groundnut etc. To address the challenges of the horticulture industry, there is a need to increase investment by the large corporate sector. The promotion of the Indian products across the globe is of utmost importance in the international market and 4 P’s of Marketing i.e Product, Price, Place and Promotion be used as tools.

Mr. Santosh Sarangi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India in his ad-dress underlined that besides having a good production base country’s productivity is still lesser than the global productivity. Also, the country’s share in the global market is less as compared to the production. The reasons for the same are increased domestic demand, less monitoring of standards as compare to the global standard, lack of storage facilities. He also suggested a cluster approach with proper marketing tie up with the support of APEDA, horti-culture department and Industry. He emphasized the requirement of improving post harvest to contain wastages.

The need of the hour is promotion of Agri and Horti Exports from India and that Central Govt., State Govt. & Industry to work in close coordination.

Training for the AccreditedCertification Bodies Under NPOP

The annual training programme for the accredited Certification Bodies under NPOP was held during 20-22 July, 2015 at APEDA, New Delhi. The training was organized with the prime

objective to make the operating officers of the Certification Bodies aware of the revised NPOP standards which has been implemented since 1st June, 2015 and amendments made in Tra-cenet.

The training had covered classroom sessions on the criteria for extension of certification to new product categories such as Aquaculture and Livestock and the standard requirements in the inspection and certification of these products. The session on the standard requirements related to certification of organic Livestock products was taken by the technical expert, Dr. Mahesh Chander, IVRI, while the session on Aquaculture standards and audit procedures was taken by Dr. PVSM Gouri.

The training was attended by 52 participants from 24 Certification Bodies.


Country Profile- MexicoMexico, officially called as United Mexi-

can State, is a federal republic of North America. The country located located be-tween latitudes 14° and 33°N, and longitudes 86° and 119°W in the southern portion of North America. The total geographical area of the country is 1,964,375 sq km and it is sur-rounded on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guate- mala, Be-lize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico.

Graph 1: Year-wise Population of Mexico & Share of Ethnic Population

As per the World Bank estimate, during the end of the year 2014 total population of Mex-ico was 121 Million. The population of the country is ethnically diverse, Mestizo, a syn-thesis of Euro- pean culture with Indigenous cultures, is leading ethnic group in the county followed by predominantly Amerindian, Am-erindian and other 10% (mostly European). Roman Catholic 82.7% is the major religion followed in the Mexico followed by Pentecos-tal 1.6% Jehovah’s 1.4% other Evan- gelical Churches 5% and others 1.9%.

Economy of MexicoMexico has the 15th largest nominal GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). In the year 2015, Mexico’s Gross Do-mestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power parity (PPP) was estimated at US $2.2602 trillion while US $1.3673 trillion in nominal exchange rates. The per capita GDP in PPP is estimated at US $18,714.05 for the year 2015.

Graph 2: Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) Scenario

Percentage share Agriculture of in over all GDP is observed almost constant since last five years as Mexico’s agriculture industry ac-counts for slightly less than 5% of the coun-try’s gross domestic product and more than 18% of the nation’s em- ployment.

Table 1: Per Capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Mexico (At Current piece)

Year USD2010 9196.892011 10123.932012 10137.652013 10661.182014 10714.83

2015 (E) 10174.33Source: IMF

The per capita GDP in Mexico at current price is estimated to be US $ 10174.33 for the year 2015. Compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for the period during the year 2010-14 is around 4%.

Agriculture in MexicoIn Mexico major crops produced are corn, beans, wheat, fruit, cotton, coffee, sugarcane, and winter vegetables (such as cucumbers and snap beans), soybeans, beef, poultry, and dairy products. The United States purchases over 70% of Mexico’s agricultural exports.


Graph 3: Production Trend of Major Grains in Mexico

Mexico, on an average, produces 217 lakh tonnes of corn (Maize) every year (2010-14). The CAGR in production is estimated to be 4% during the year 2010-2014. Similarly, the country produces 72 lakh tonnes and 37 lakh tonnes of sorghum and wheat respectively, every year. The annual growth in production (CAGR) for sorghum and wheat is estimated to be 2.6% and -0.7% respectively (2010-2014). The production of all the crops de-clined during the year 2011 due to draught in the country. Mexico’s large sorghum crop is also used primarily for human consumption; wheat grown for food was Mexico’s 10th most important crop.

Graph 4: Production Trend of Major Citrus Fruits in Mexico

Orange and Lemon are the major citrus crop produced in Mexico. On an average, the country produces 42 lakh tonnes of orange and 22 lakh tonnes of fresh lemon every year. The CAGR during the year 2010-2014 is 3% and 2% respectively.

Mexico also produces significant amounts of plantains and lemons/limes, mostly in the southern states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, with

some production in Michoacán. Most of Mex-ico’s oranges are produced along the Gulf of Mexico in the states of Veracruz and Tamau-lipas. In recent years, Mexico’s Fresh apple crop has grown rapidly, in large part because of increased demand from the United States, the gradual elimination of trade barriers un-der the North American Free Trade Agree-ment (NAFTA), and the end of U.S. sanitary bans after Mexican growers implemented aggressive pest control programs. Apple has become the country’s important crop.

Graph 5: Production Trend of Fresh Apple and Fresh Grape in Mexico

Annual average production of fresh apple and fresh grape in Mexico is estimated to be 624 thousand tonnes and 243 thousand tonnes during the year 2010-2014 respectively.

Food Processing Sector in MexicoIndustry reports have stated that the pro-cessed food industry in Mexico has experi-enced steady growth since 2011. In 2013, processed food production in Mexico reached a value of US$135 billion making it the 8th largest food processing country in the world. Overall the entire food industry grew by 2.3 % in the same span (2012- 2013). The pro-cessed food industry accounted for 12% of the manufacturing GDP which was $441.3 bil-lion and 4% of the total GDP which was $1.2 billion in 2013.

In 2012, the bakery and tortilla industry represented 27% of the total production value of processed foods or US$36.4 billion thus de-creasing 3% in the previous year. Other cate-


gories that stood out including meat processing with 25% or US$33.75 billion, a 3.5% increase from 2011, and dairy production with 10.8% or US$14.58 billion.

Mexico has a strong food processing industry in which leading Mexican brands like Bimbo, Gruma, Lala, and Herdez amongst others have well-developed national distribution networks that are well positioned in the market and enjoy high brand awareness with consumers who are very loyal despite economic variations.

Food Habit/ConsumptionIn Mexico, consumption of various types of foods varies as per the socio-economic class. Mex-ican culinary norms vary widely based on income level and social class. The diet of work-ing-class Mexicans includes staples such as corn or wheat tortillas, along with beans, rice, tomatoes, chili peppers and chorizo, a type of pork sausage. The diets of middle and upper-in-come Mexicans are more closely aligned with diets of Americans and Europeans and include a wide variety of food items prepared in wide range of culinary styles. Soda is a very popular drink in Mexico, as the country has a well-developed beverage industry.

Also, Mexican food varies by region, due to the local climate and geography and ethnic dif-ferences among the consumers as they are influenced by culture of Spain. The northern part of the country prefers beef, goat and ostrich production and meat dishes, in particular the well-known Arrachera cut; Central Mexico’s cuisine is largely made up of influences from the rest of the country, but also has its authentics, such as barbacoa, pozole, menudo, tamales, and carnitas. Southeastern Mexico, on the other hand, is known for its spicy vegetable and chicken-based dishes. The cuisine of South- eastern Mexico also has quite a bit of Caribbean influence, given its geographical location.

India’s Trade with MexicoThe Mexico over all food market is dominated by US because of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement; it is world’s largest free trade zones and laying the foundations for strong economic growth and rising prosperity for Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

Guar gum, Groundnuts, Non-basmati rice, Dried and preserved vegetable, fresh grape are the important products exported from India to Mexico. Export of non basmati rice volume start-ed building since the year 2012-13, and 3,520 tonnes was the highest export during the year 2014-15.

Quantity in Tonnes, Value in INR Lakh

Products 2009‐10 2010‐11 2011‐12 2012‐13 2013‐14 2014‐15

Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value Guar gum 1,629.15 922.85 2,121.76 1,443.03 2,245.56 3,577.41 1,342.20 4,404.85 1,376.40 2,893.73 1,276.40 2,023.66Groundnuts NA NA 8,355.61 4,173.97 33,273.73 22,796.48 1,045.00 878.15 2,770.00 1,579.23 2,682.00 1,821.51Non Basmati Rice NA NA NA NA NA NA 2,295.10 568.02 798.89 224.1 3,520.00 1,070.87Dried & Preserved Veg‐ etables

29.82 21.38 296.12 237.37 178.82 158.27 689.84 611.77 658.46 610.75 699.08 785.37

Fresh Grape NA NA 95 46.84 744.1 489.58 364.13 270.45 1,275.00 956.17 742 581.6 Cereal Preparations 6.07 9.91 0.06 0.08 10.01 4.34 179.39 147.52 212.64 164.78 398.67 322.11 Floriculture 34.59 38.58 70.92 111.87 142.6 136.29 29.42 65.7 37.83 82.05 40.49 121.28 Basmati Rice 29 16.67 NA NA 15 10.36 0 0 0 0 132 112.24 Other Processed Fruits 1,106.36 481.08 2,273.34 1,180.36 899.26 514.06 1,021.68 616.58 52 60.64 4.03 51.05 Miscellaneous Prepara‐ 40.01 19.62 NA NA 81.78 47.43 57.08 42.82 0.25 1.34 40.04 26.39 Fruits & Vegetables 96.02 54.2 0.8 3.55 0.02 0.71 0 0 0.05 12.2 0.22 10.24 Cucumber and Gher‐ 15 4.74 15.16 4.37 12.1 5.88 0 0 12.8 7.58 14 8.34 Alcoholic Beverages NA NA 20 50.96 NA NA 0 0 45.88 38.23 0 0 Buffalo Meat NA NA 148.81 199.25 NA NA 56 73.44 0 0 0 0 Cocoa Products NA NA 0.07 0 NA NA 41.72 79.85 11.3 17.12 0 0 Jaggery & Confec‐ 78.49 49.94 NA NA 80 73.24 0.03 2.13 0 0 0 0 Other Cereals NA NA NA NA NA NA 0 0 24 14.4 0 0 Other Fresh Fruits 0.05 0.02 17.44 2.48 10 1.28 9.1 24.56 0 0 0 0 Total 7,130.69 7,785.84 7,275.50 6,662.32 9,548.93 6,934.66


Trend in Export of Major Products from India• Guar gum It is showing a stable trend in

over all, during the year 2010-11 export of guar gum was highest among all the years (including recent) i. e. 2,246 tonnes due to higher demand in Mexico, however the volume has come down and is sta-ble afterwards. Since the last three years, (2013-2015), India has, on an average, exported 1,332 tonnes of guar gum and products valued INR 3,107 lakh to Mexico.

• Groundnut- The export of groundnut to Mexico during the year 2010-11 and 2011-12 was 8,356 tonnes and 33,274 tonnes respectively, because the other supplying country faced draught in that year. How-ever, India’s export volume stabilized after draught measures were taken by the sup-plier and producing country. During the year 2013-2015, average annual export of groundnut to Mexico is 2,166 tonnes and INR 1,426 lakh in terms of volume and val-ue respectively.

Graph 6: Export Trend of Guar Gum and Ground- nut Export from India

Source: DGCIS

• Dried and Preserved Vegetables export demand showed fluctuating trend as the total volume increased from 29.82 tonnes to 296.12 tonnes in the year 2009-10 to 2010-11 respectively, again the volume declined to 178.82 tonnes in the year 2011-12. However, since the year 2011-12 onwards, volume of export has been con-stant and average annual export stood at 682 tonnes with average value of INR 670 Lakh.

• Fresh Grapes export demand was 95 tonnes in the year 2010-11, during the year 2011-12 the volume increased to 744.1 tonnes and again dropped down in the year 2012-13. Similar cyclical trend seen during the next three years.

Graph 7: Export Trend of Dried and PreservedVegetables and Fresh Grapes to Mexico

Other Major Products Imported by Mexico

Tomato prepared and preserved Fruit jams, jellies and purees, Raisin and Tomato ketch-up could be important products for the Indian exporter’s interest as they are currently able to export these products to various nations.

Table 3: Other Major Processed Products Imported by Mexico from the World

Year

Tomato Prep. & Presv Fresh Apple Fruits Jam, Jelly Raisin Tomato Ketchup

Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value Qty Value

2010 46.3 41.6 221.3 230.5 8.4 10.6 14.1 20.4 33 41

2011 69.6 54.8 198.5 213.3 8.1 11.2 19.5 32.5 32 40

2012 60.2 46.9 235.9 291.3 9.4 13.1 17.7 28.5 29 37

2013 71.2 57.4 275.0 344.0 9.8 14.7 16.2 31.3 32 39

2014 63.2 62.4 235.5 277.5 8.8 14.2 18.3 34.8 36 42

Quantity in 000 Tonnes, Value in US $Million


India’s share in export of above these products are negligible; however these products have shown good growth in import over the years. Fresh apple is another important product im-ported by Mexico in good volume.

Market Potential in MexicoThe growth of the Mexican processed food industry can be attributed to several factors such as a growing demand, excess production capacity, available agricultural resources both do-mestic and imported, economic growth of Mexico, expansion of the middle class, and low manufacturing costs. Ready-to-eat and frozen food products are gaining popularity in Mexico as result of changing lifestyles as more women are entering the workforce reducing the time that families have to prepare meals at home. Increasing income levels are also an important force driving the demand for imported processed foods.

The processed food sector in Mexico is extremely price sensitive; companies need to keep prices low in order to stay competitive. Market competition comes from large local food pro-cessors that carry increasingly modern and developing lines of Mexican food products. Com-panies like Grupo Herdez, Bimbo, La Costena and Sabormex are local competitors for U.S. exporters, but also represent opportunities in terms of imports of ingredients for processing.


Chairman: Krishan Kumar, IASGeneral Managers: Sunil Kumar; Tarun Bajaj; S S Nayyar; Navneesh Sharma

Co-ordinators: Rajni Arora, Executive Secretary; Kamal Kant (EO)

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October - December 2015 3