Organic products likely to be free from export ban

The government is working towards making organic processed foods free from export ban, a Commerce Ministry official said here today.
"With a view to providing an enabling policy environment, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is trying.. That there would never be any ban on organic processed food exports even if the primary produce of that commodity is subjected to some restrictions," A K Tripathy, Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce and Industries said at an Assocham event here.
"There is another challenge that today there is no credible domestic certification system in India and that is something the Ministry of Agriculture or whoever has to do," he added.

Santosh Sarangi, Chairman-cum-Secretary of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), said that one of the major challenges for India is maintaining the integrity of organic certification system.
"All stakeholders like farmers, processors, traders and the certification bodies in the organic process should be fully involved and committed to maintaining the integrity of the certification system," he said.
He also said that there is a huge potential for the country to penetrate into the USD 64 billion worth global organic food market as India currently has a meagre 0.35 per cent share in the global organic food basket.

Besides, Sarangi said, APEDA is working towards increasing the portfolio of organic products available for exports from India in order to have a higher share of organic products which are exported.
"We are expanding from merely crop production system to include aquaculture, textiles and livestock," he said.