Foreign buyers, including the Chinese and Americans, today showed interest in importing Indian organic agricultural products to cater to increasing consumption levels in their countries, but raised some concerns on quality assessment.
South Korea based Organic Partner CEO Raymond Yang said they usually import cashews, nuts,turmeric and rock honeyfrom India, but have problems relating to quality assessment.
"In South Korea each product goes through at least 377 tests.However it isnt the case in India.Unless Indianproduce meets the Korean Specific Organic Standard, tradebetween both countries cannot happen unless the items areprocessed," he said atInternational Trade Fair For Organic and Millets 2018.
Among the commonly exported items to South Korea and China, turmeric and cotton stand out from the rest, he said.
Yang said China and India do not necessarily have the best traderelationship. nevertheless, trade between both countriesis essential, he said.
Contamination and cross-contamination issuespertaining to sampling and shipping continue to affectinternational trading, he added.
US-based Organic Spices Incorporated (Purchase Head) Jimmy Evans said America is a huge market for organic spices such as peppercorns, chilli, cumin, garlic and other spices. But Indian imports often fail heavy metal tests, he said.
"Additionally, there is a lack of awareness about Indian grains in the international markets," he said.
Evans also said there was a need to hold ITF to spread awareness about the diversity and range of grains in India.
"In most countries, South Korea, China and USA included, we have only 2-3 types of millet grains, which has always limited our ability to use this in the local diets of these regions."
"If the local taste buds grow an affinity toward these grains, then we will import grains from India, provided standards are maintained," he added.
The ITF cateres to buyers from USA, Germany, Switzerland, UAE, South Korea, Uganda, China and Malaysia.
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