Paswan invites EU to collaborate in quality assurance programme

Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan has invited the European Union (EU) to collaborate in quality assurance programme and development of mandatory standards for various consumer services and products by his ministry.

Under the 'Swachh Bharat Mission', the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is developing mandatory standards for garbage disposal and supply of potable water. Quality assurance programme for food products of mass consumption. European Union can collaborate in these ventures, he said.

Paswan, who was talking to a European Union delegation led by Dr. Joao Cravinho during a call on meeting in his office today, recalled that India-EU relations date back to early 1060s.

"Our engagement with each other has grown manifold since then and now India is the one of the largest trading partner of EU," he said.

Paswan said this partnership can be further strengthened by sharing expertise and experience in fields like quality up gradation of labs and standardization of consumer services and products.