The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) on Monday organised a virtual meeting with various stakeholders for formulating strategies as part of its efforts to further boost the country agricultural and processed food exports to the Gulf region.
An official statement said that APEDA held the meeting in association with the Ministry of Agriculture and Indian embassies. Various issues faced by exporters and importers of India’s agricultural produce were discussed during the meeting through the webinar.
The Indian embassies in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates took part in the event along with leading exporters and importers from India and the Gulf countries.
The Gulf countries are among the prominent export destinations for Indian agricultural product exports. Some of the major products exported are Basmati and non-Basmati rice, buffalo meat, other fresh vegetables, fresh onions, fresh fruits, sheep and goat meat, processed products, cereal preparations, and fresh mangoes.
Despite Covid-19 challenges, India’s exports of agricultural and processed foods have been largely interrupted and have registered impressive growth during 2020-21 fiscal.
But its export to the Gulf region totalled $5.04 billion last fiscal compared with $5.37 billion the previous fiscal.
According to UN Comtrade (as reported by the importing country), the Gulf region imported $ 44.14 billion worth of APEDA-monitored products across the globe. India had the largest share as a sourcing country for the Gulf region, enjoying a share of 11.8 per cent.
The statement said that APEDA has initiated several measures including development of package of practices, implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), development of standards for export of fruits and vegetables, recognition of produce packhouses, the procedure for exports of fresh grapes, pomegranates, okra and onion to ensure the quality of export products.
Besides, recognition of implementation and certification agencies for HACCP and recognition of laboratories for export testing, developing procedure for export of peanuts and peanut products, regular participation and contribution in Codex (joint body of WHO and FAO) meetings have been initiated by APEDA.