Fruit diplomacy to get a push

Commerce minister to meet senior US officials, CEOs

Besides visas, intellectual property rights and bilateral trade issues, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma is going to push for fruit diplomacy of sorts during his meeting with US trade secretary Michael Froman.

He will push for greater market access for fruit such as mangoes, pomegranate, litchi and grapes during the series of meetings finance minister P Chidambaram and he will have with top US officials. Both are currently in Washington.

Market access for Indian agricultural produce has been a major point of contention in bilateral relations. While India has brought down tariffs on agricultural products of interest to the US, the US has not reciprocated, officials told Business Standard.

In the budget of 2011-2012 the government had reduced basic customs duty on raw pistachio and bamboo on the US’ request for more market access for these products. Sharma has decided to now take on the US for greater and easier entry of India agricultural goods in American markets, since they’ree subjected the most to various forms of inspection by US government agencies.

In April 2007, the US had given a green signal to import mangoes from India after treating it with radiation, which has turned out to be a costly affair for the exporters. When the matter was discussed with US authorities, they suggested the mangoes be irradiated by local inspection officers hired by the US embassy here. Such a step was expected to reduce the cost of the programme by $20,000-25,000 on each season. The government here had recommended giving the task to our National Plant Protection Organization. Nothing has progressed on the matter.

The US recently approved the import of pomegranates from India after irradiation to be done within India. But export is yet to happen. Export of grapes had been a demand pending since 2008 but the US authorities refuse to grant the necessary approval and continue to cite the presence of pesticide.

Sharma is to meet Walmart’s Scott Price, Senator Robert Menendez and Froman. On Friday, the two ministers will address the India-US CEOs Forum, where both will also meet US Secretary of Stade John Kerry and US commerce secretary Penny Pritzker, among others. The CEOs forum is expected to take up some issues related to taxation, investment, credit markets and infrastructure.

Movement of professionals
Pitching India as a long-term investment destination, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Thursday said the US should respect free movement of skilled professionals to enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries. The minister is accompanied by a delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) chief executive offivers in his four-day visit to the US to woo foreign investors.