Status Report on Quality and Food Safety Practices at Cashew

Processing UnitsProcessing Units

(Synopsis )

1. The Past

• The pioneering initiative for ensuring

conformity to quality specifications of cashew

kernels exported from India took place in

h h1963-64 when Cashew Export Promotion

Council introduced voluntary pre shipmentCouncil introduced voluntary pre-shipment

inspection and quality control of cashewinspection and quality control of cashew

kernels exported from India.

A mile stone in the history of qualityA mile stone in the history of quality control of export food products.p p

The Export (Quality Control Inspection ) Act 1963 was a land mark legislation which brought in mandatory qualitywhich brought in mandatory quality control and pre-shipment inspection for notified export commodities .

• Export Inspection Council of India

established by Ministry of Commerce (GOI)

set up Export Inspection Agencies in Delhi ,

K lk t M b i Ch i & K hi tKolkata , Mumbai , Chennai & Kochi to carry

out pre-shipment inspection and qualityout pre-shipment inspection and quality

control of notified commodities .control of notified commodities .

Th C t l G t i i• The Central Government in exercise

f th d (E t Q litof the powers under (Export Quality

C t l d I ti ) A t tifi dControl and Inspection) Act notified

h k l t b bj t tcashew kernels to be subject to

Q lit C t l d i ti iQuality Control and inspection prior

t t f 1966to export wef 1966.

C t t thi th h f• Consequent to this ,the scheme of pre

shipment inspection and certification beingshipment inspection and certification being

operated by CEPC was taken over by Export p y y p

Inspection Council of India .

• The specifications for cashew kernels were

notified by EIC through publication in the

gazette of India.

• During the period of operation of the g p pmandatory pre-shipment inspection of cashew kernels EIC of India introducedcashew kernels EIC of India introduced various improvements like minimum requirements of processing units , hygiene and sanitation standards approval ofand sanitation standards , approval of packing unit for exports , training for workers, supervisors and quality personnel , in process quality control scheme and, in process quality control scheme and quality management system.

2 0 The present2.0 The present

• In 1994 , subsequent to the policy of

liberalization GOI withdrew from the

fi ld f d t lit t l dfield of mandatory quality control and

pre-shipment inspection with a view topre-shipment inspection with a view to

avoid bureaucratic delays which y

hampered exports.

• Private Inspection Agencies entered into• Private Inspection Agencies entered into

the space to attend to pre shipmentthe space to attend to pre-shipment

inspection and quality certification ofinspection and quality certification of

shipment lots upon nomination fromshipment lots upon nomination from

buyers.buyers.

• Food import regulations in the importing

countries such as USA , EU , Japan and

Australia became more and more

stringent with the objective of ensuring

of food safety for the consumers .

Th WTO t d SPS• The WTO agreement and SPS

l bregulations became important

landmarks in ensuring food safety of

consumers the world over.

• USA started insisting upon FDA

registration of food processing units

and also implementation of HACCP inand also implementation of HACCP in

h f d bl hthe food processing establishments

to qualify for export to USA.

• The Food Safety Modernization Act

which is the latest initiative of the USA is

a multipronged legislation ensuring food

safety, traceability and security

throughout the food chain until the

product reaches the consumer.

A f d i t bli h t ti t USA i• A food processing establishment exporting to USA is

required to implement steps to ensure allergen

programme , periodic third party audit of the quality

management system , recalls and traceability

programme , food security programme , personnel p g , y p g , p

hygiene programme, transportation and storage ,

equipment and sanitation, manufacturing process

control customer complaints finished productscontrol , customer complaints , finished products

monitoring, foreign material control etc.

• In pursuance of the Bio terrorism Act USA is• In pursuance of the Bio-terrorism Act USA is

insisting upon C-TPAT which requires the shipper g p q pp

to ensure Container Inspection & Security/

Container seal security/In-transit security

P d l it /P l it /Ph i lProcedural security/Personnel security/Physical

Access Control/Physical security InformationAccess Control/Physical security Information

Technology Security/Security Training and Threat

Awareness Program.

• The emerging international scenarioThe emerging international scenario

would invite more stringent regulationswould invite more stringent regulations

in tandem with food safety & securityin tandem with food safety & security

threats .

• The Food Safety Standards Act isThe Food Safety Standards Act is in consonance with codex standards and also the regulations of the major food importing countries in the worldimporting countries in the world .

2.1 Current status of cashew processing units in India

• Driven by the demand from the importing countries to conform to foodimporting countries to conform to food safety regulations the cashew

i i d i di i d dprocessing industry in India introduced changes in tune with this situation .g

• The packaging system p g g y

underwent a remarkableunderwent a remarkable

transformation from tin

packing to flexi packing.

• The processing and packing units put in

place HACCP based Food Safety

Management System which is the

preventive approach against physical,

chemical and biological hazards.

• Traditionally, a labour intensive

industry cashew slowly and steadily

moved to mechanization the pace

of which increased considerably in

recent years.

• Value added products made their

presence in the domestic and the p

export market which is growing in p g g

volume substantially.volume substantially.

• Consequent to mechanization the

industry which was traditionally

confined to Kollam and Mangalore

started moving to other states which

in the past, did not have any cashew

processing industry at all .

• The growth in demand for cashews in the• The growth in demand for cashews in the

domestic market has given a new thrust fordomestic market has given a new thrust for

processors to simultaneously market their p y

production in the domestic market as well

as export market. Many small processors

cater to the domestic market only which

i b inow gives better return on investment .

3.The future3.The future

F d l d l i lik l d• Food laws and regulations are likely to undergo

dramatic changes in future.g

• Analytical techniques for contaminants and

pathogens are becoming more and more

sensitive with increased detection capabilitysensitive with increased detection capability .

Consequently consumers would demand foods

with lower limits of contaminants and perhaps,

t t ll f f thtotally free from them.

• The demand for safer and healthier foods• The demand for safer and healthier foods

would be a challenge for the Indian food g

export Industry, while it would also open

opportunities for us to supply foods meeting

the exacting requirements of the buying

countries and also the domestic market which

i tti iti d b t i t f d f tis getting sensitized by stringent food safety

requirementsrequirements.