Centre refutes Congress's allegations on organic cotton in Madhya Pradesh

The Centre on Sunday refuted the Congress's allegations regarding irregularities in organic cotton certification, calling the remarks unfounded and misleading.

The commerce ministry said the aspersions cast against the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) were baseless and unwarranted.

"Generalised allegations against a robust regulatory system of the country for a particular crop/region/group of operators only serve to undermine the credibility of legitimate regulatory institutions and the broader organic movement in India," the ministry said in a statement.

The Congress on Saturday demanded a court-monitored CBI probe into an alleged scam in the sale of normal cotton as organic cotton in Madhya Pradesh.

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that India's image is being hurt globally as the country has lost credibility in the certification of organic products.

"It may be mentioned that in a press briefing by an opposition leader yesterday (Saturday), unfounded, unsubstantiated and misleading aspersions are being cast against the Organic Certification programme, the NPOP," it said.

The ministry's arm Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), it said, is committed to ensuring that the organic certification system under the NPOP is credible, transparent, and clear.

"Wherever credible evidence of non compliances/wilful violation of organic standards have been brought to light, APEDA had undertaken extensive investigation and taken concrete measures. All such matters are subjected to structured investigation following principles of natural justice. Any certification body or operator found violating norms is penalised as per NPOP regulation," the ministry said.

The NPOP was launched in 2001 by the ministry to promote exports of organic products and APEDA acts as its secretariat for the implementation.

The system of grower group certification was launched in 2005, as it was felt necessary to cater to small and marginal farmers.

Third party certification is a mandatory requirement for export of organic products. The NPOP standards for crop production have been recognised by the European Commission and Switzerland as equivalent to their country's standards and are also accepted by Great Britain. There is an MRA for organic products with Taiwan.

At present, there are 37 active certification bodies operating in India, which include 14 state certification bodies.

"Herein, it is clarified that APEDA or the Department of Commerce does not extend any subsidy to farmers taking up organic cultivation under the NPOP. The figure of Rs 50,000 per hectare and the further wrongly imputed calculations have no basis," it said.