Conference on Capacity building for SPS Measures
Towards Global Competitiveness in the Food Processing Sector
Thursday, September 29, 2005, Salem, Tamil Nadu

Conference report

A conference on Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary Measures was organised at Salem on September 29, 2005 by the India Development Foundation, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the British High Commission in association with the Salem Productivity Council. This conference was held in Tamil. The introduction to the study was given by the Amir Ullah Khan, project head for this study funded by the British High Commission and Fellow at IDF who spoke on the need for capacity building, trade facilitation and the potential for agri exports. He emphasised the need for such conferences to be held in local languages to be able to reach out to large number of small and medium food processors in the export sector. He expressed happiness over the fact that in Tamil Nadu there is a conscious effort by the industry and the government to complement each other's efforts in achieving higher levels of quality, efficiency and productivity.

The chief guest at the conference was Mr K Ashok Vardhan Shetty, IAS, Special Officer and Managing Director Sagoserve. He emphasised that quality is the need of the hour. He started with stating that SPS is indeed an opportunity for Indian farmers, who are already the largest producers of a number of food products. However being the largest is not enough, it is important to meet higher standards, both for domestic and international markets. In this regard he pointed to the initiative taken by the central and the state governments in moving towards an integrated food law. The Government of Tamil Nadu is in agreement with this move and has already sent in its approval for integration and simplification. He commented upon the food safety standards in commodities like shrimps, groundnuts and spices, and talked about the presence of pesticide residues, aflatoxin and fungal growth as a major cause of consignment rejections from India.

A manual in Tamil and a CD-ROM on "Capacity Building for SPS Measures" was released by the chief guest in the conference. This manual has been prepared by the India Development Foundation as part of its study on food safety standards sponsored by the British High Commission.

Mr. Shetty highlighted that the Government is working closely with industry associations and acknowledges the leadership played by research institutions like the India Development Foundation in raising awareness and in studying the impact of complying with higher standards. The scientific justification called for under the SPS agreement clearly is a positive sign and therefore ensures that the agreement is not used as a trade distortionary method and conforms to high standards of transparency. Therefore it is important for us to domestically apply high standards in our entire production cycle. He talked about the reforms initiated in the sago and mango industries in Tamil Nadu for complying with stringent food standards. He spoke about Genetic Modified Crops and their importance in meeting nutrition requirements in the world, especially the developing world. However, here again he emphasized that food safety standards are a must.

Talking about the objective of 'free trade' regime under the WTO, Mr. Shetty talked about the tariff and non-tariff barriers in trade, anti-dumping duties and countervailing duties in international trade. He urged the Indian food processors and exporters to make themselves aware about these international trade legislations, and take proactive steps to pre-empt the challenges and take corrective measures rather than being at the receiving end of trade challenges under the new trading guidelines of the WTO.

The government of Tamil Nadu has already started involving four universities in the state in enhancing exports. At the trade diplomacy level, India has been successful in countering unjustified standards. Mr Shetty congratulated the British High Commission in taking the entire process of trade facilitation forward and in supporting such an important study. He called for many more such workshops to reach all corners of the state and promised his commitment to this endeavour. He called for IDF, CII and the government to work together in spreading this awareness. Mr. Shetty thanked IDF and CII for choosing Salem as a venue for the conference as this is a food processing zone. However, he cautioned that only doing such a conference at Salem is not enough, it has to be done in many different food processing zones in the state.

Mr N Asoka, Managing Director, Spark Engineering Private Limited and Vice President, Salem Productivity Council drew the attention of the audience to the need for industry to come forward in implementing this long term vision of achieving higher quality standards. He stated that our industry is already competitive in a large number of products but need to now gear up for higher standards. The need is to go towards a complete package of good practices, hygienic work conditions and healthy packing.

The technical session started where the questionnaire based on the 'Testing the basic knowledge on SPS issues' was filled by all participants. The purpose was to assess existing awareness on SPS issue. After which was the main IDF presentation on SPS related issues by Ms Tandley Sridevi. She spoke to the audience in Tamil. Her talk detailed the genesis of the SPS agreement and the advantage of high standards in food and agri products. Higher standards permit firms to charge higher margins and raise the quality level in any market. India needs to behave proactively in setting standards. If we don't do our own investigation and our preparation, we will be forced to follow rules and standards laid down by others. She spoke about Tamil Nadu's potential export commodities - Poultry and Marine Products.

The concern on SPS was discussed starting from the need to follow SPS measures and what would be their impact on trade. She then gave a brief explanation on using the CD which was then disseminated among the delegated along with the workbook on "Capacity Building for Policy Makers, Regulators, Inspecting Firms, Small Agricultural Exporters, and Importers in India to Face the SPS Measures". Then the same questionnaire based on 'Testing the knowledge on SPS issues' was filled in by all participants. The purpose now was to get to know how much knowledge has been gained by the audience at this conference on SPS measure.