India, the world's leading spice producer, exporter and consumer, is all set to become a hub of global spice trade with the launch of an international body that would coordinate it.
"Process is on to open the head-office of World Spice Organisation (WSO) at Kochi. It has been registered and will be formally launched within three months," Founding Chairman WSO Philip Kuruvilla told PTI.
Kochi in Kerala is the hub for spice trading in India.
The body will not only seek better solutions for sustainability of spice production, but would also address the issue of food safety regulations. It seeks to provide a global platform from the farm to the end user, Kuruvilla said.
"Several spice related organisations have pledged their support and have welcomed the initiative," Kuruvilla said, without revealing their names.
A global body that can connect all the spice producing and exporting countries for timely exchange of information from production to exports to regulation is needed, he added.
"WSO will focus on sustainability of spice production vis-a-vis rising global demand and harmonisation of all the global regulatory policies on spices," All India Spice Exporters Forum (AISEF) Chairman Jeemon Korah told PTI.
With demand for spices increasing as new range of food applications are being launched and use of spices in other products like pharma, Korah, who is also the founding member of WSO said.
Though the production of spices is increasing at an year-on-year basis, yet it is still insufficient to match the demands, he said, adding that issues of demand and supply will be one of the core areas for WSO.
"Another major role that this organisation will look at is to create awareness among the producing and exporting countries regarding food safety policies, demand-supply situation and value addition," Kuruvilla said.
Explaining the issue of food safety regulations, he said various consuming countries in Europe and America are bringing in food safety norms, which make things difficult for producing countries to meet.
"When a country brings a regulation regarding food safety and standard of spices, the information takes a lot of time to reach the producing countries, which leaves little time with the producer to adjust according to the guidelines and this results in huge losses," he explained.
Spice Board, the government body for the development and promotion of Indian spices has welcomed the creation of WSO.
"Spice Board welcomes such an initiative and will extend all possible help for the setting up such an organisation," Spice Board Chairman VJ Kurian told PTI.
A common platform globally needs to be created to address policies and legislations related to spices, he added.
"Various proposals have been discussed regarding the creation of this organisation," Kurian said.