Multiple regulators hurting growth of India's organic food sector: ICRIER

In India, multiple govt bodies are trying to come up with regulations and standards for organic food

The absence of a single nodal agency for regulating, approving and setting the standards is one of the biggest bottlenecks in India which is emerging as a major destination for organic products both for domestic markets and also for exports, a working paper by Indian Council For Applied Economic Research (ICRIER) said.

The paper which was recently released has been jointly written by Arpita Mukherjee, Souvik Dutta, Disha Mendiratta, Avantika Kapoor, Tanu M Goyal is based on a survey of all companies and other stakeholders involved in organic products trade.

It said that unlike most countries worldwide where Agriculture Ministry is the nodal agency for all matters related to organic production, in India multiple government bodies are trying to come up with regulations and standards for organic food products, which are difficult to adhere to if a company is catering to both the domestic market and exports.

"There are concerns about which standard will be applicable pan-India. At the time of the survey, the FSSAI was holding consultations on drawing up guidelines for organic products. The survey participants were worried that FSSAI regulations may not be applicable to farmers and exporters since neither come under FSSAI's jurisdiction. Organic farming is based on supply chain traceability and farmers are an integral part of the supply chain," the report said.

It said that the survey participants are of the view that there should be a holistic approach for regulating this sector. They also said that multiple regulations by different government bodies can make it difficult to understand the policy.