Spices Board Introduces Quality Certification

In an attempt to further promote quality consciousness and boost exports of spices, the Spices Board has introduced the concept of quality certificate which will be awarded to export houses with genuine commitment to quality and long term objective to sustain export growth.

The `Spice House Certificate seeks to identify and recognise those investing in in-house processing facilities and infrastructure besides having necessary competence to ensure quality and reliability, sources in Spices Board said.

Investments in upgrading facilities included all critical areas such as cleaning, grading, processing, packaging and warehousing, the sources added.

The scheme also envisaged employing a fool-proof system of quality assurance at all stages of processing right from raw material selection to final shipping.

 

The processors are also expected to maintain a high degree of sanitation in their plants while workers are also expected to observe cleanliness and personal hygiene, they said.

The `Spice House Certificate is the latest campaign by the Spices Board in addition to its scheme of awarding `Indian Spices Logo as mark of genuine, superior quality Indian spices.

Both the schemes of awarding the logo and certificate had quality upgradation of Indian spices as the ultimate objective with a basic difference in focus, the sources said.

While exporters of branded spices and spice products in consumer packs were the focal point of the logo programme, the certification scheme was aimed at exporters who shipped spices in bulk as raw materials.

Products covered by the certification scheme included whole spices as well as value added products like spice mixes, ground spices, curry blends, spice oils and oleoresins.

Some of the certified spice houses were now planning to acquire ISO-9000 certification.

So far, nine exporters, all from South India, had been awarded the Indian Spices logo. 37 exporters have already been granted the Spice House Certificate, the sources said.

Stating that quality was the only way to sustain India's share in the global market, they said the board had also developed and implemented better production methods .