Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) said on Wednesday that it will seek 80,000 tonnes of feed wheat and 100,000 tonnes of feed barley to be loaded by Feb. 15 and arrive in Japan by March 17, via a simultaneous buy and sell (SBS) auction that will be held on Jan. 19.

 

Japan buys and sells its feed wheat and barley via so-called SBS auctions, in which end-users and importers specify the origin, price and quantity of grain, allowing millers to meet their varied needs for the feed grain.

The Union government has secured the approval of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for export of Indian mangoes to the USA in the new season. The export of Indian mangoes has been restricted by the USA since 2020 as USDA inspectors were unable to visit India due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The USDA’s approval would pave the way for exports from traditional mango production belts such as Andhra Pradesh.

 

While several countries import mangoes based on the certification given by the phytosanitary inspectors of Andhra Pradesh, countries like the USA and South Korea deploy their own inspectors to India to certify the mango consignments.

 

According to industry sources, traders export about 10,000 tonnes of mangoes from Andhra Pradesh to various countries every year. But the official estimates put this figure at about 2,000 tonnes. The difference in the numbers stems from the fact that the traders, after procuring mangoes from the state, export them from international flights and ports in other states like Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, etc.

 

Additional director, department of horticulture, M Venkateswarulu, said that irradiation treatment is a must to export mangoes to the USA. 'Vapour heat treatment is required to export mangoes to countries like South Korea and Japan. Andhra Pradesh has two VHT facilities in Tirupati and Nuzvid out of the four such facilities in the country. The export norms vary from country to country. For instance, several Middle East countries import mangoes certified by the state’s phytosanitary inspectors. But it is different for countries like the USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc.' said Venkateswarlu.

 

The additional director added that Andhra Pradesh horticulture department has eight phytosanitary inspectors. 'Processes like irradiation are aimed at eliminating the live pest, fungus or disease in the mangoes. The state horticulture department is conducting training programmes for the farmers, in association with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, to enable them to utilise export opportunities in overseas markets. Banganapalli, Suvarnarekha, Alphonso and Collector are the most exported mango varieties from the state. The horticulture department is working towards increasing the mango exports from the state,' said M Venkateswarulu.

 

Industry sources said that lack of international cargo and relatedinfrastructural facilities at the airports of the state is hampering the direct export opportunities from the state. The traders have to rely on shipping ports and airports in other states. Similarly, Andhra Pradesh has 12 pack houses for horticulture crops. But these also reportedly lack connecting facilities to improve the export scenario of the state.

Sri Lanka’s cabinet of minister has approved the import of 300,000 metric tonnes of rice to increase the supply, a government statement said, with crop losses expected due to the use of organic fertilizer.

 

The Minister of Trade had been given approval to import 200,000 metric tonnes of Nadu type rice (parboiled) and 100,000 tonnes of GR11 short grain rice.

 

GR11 is a substitute for Samba, the statement said.

 

The cabinet had earlier approved the import of 100,000 metric tonnes of rice.

 

These rice will be imported from India, cabinet spokesman Minister Ramesh Pathirana said.

 

Rice prices have moved up and imports are to stabilize prices, he said.

 

Stat-run Sathosa and some private traders have been allowed to import rice, Minister Pathirana said.

 

At least 30,000 metric tonnes had been imported from Myanmar.

 

Sri Lanka has restricted the import of rice which has allowed millers to drive up prices.

 

However in the Maha season, where harvesting begins from around February, crop losses are expected due to a ban on chemical fertilizer and agro-chemical import.

The World Bank has retained India's economic growth forecast for the current fiscal at 8.3 per cent as the recovery is yet to become broad-based.

 

As per the first advanced estimates of the national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) last week, the economy is projected to grow at 9.2 per cent in 2021-22, surpassing pre-COVID level in actual terms, mainly on account of improved performance, especially in farm, mining and manufacturing sectors.

 

'India's economy is expected to expand by 8.3 per cent in fiscal year 2021/22 (ending March 2022), unchanged from last June's forecast as the recovery is yet to become broad-based.

 

'The economy should benefit from the resumption of contact-intensive services, and ongoing but narrowing monetary and fiscal policy support,' the World Bank said in its latest Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday.

 

Further, the report said that growth forecast has been upgraded for 2022-23 and 2023-24 to 8.7 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively. The upward revision reflects an improving investment outlook with private investment, particularly manufacturing, benefiting from the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, and increases in infrastructure investment.

 

'The growth outlook will also be supported by ongoing structural reforms, a better than-expected financial sector recovery, and measures to resolve financial sector challenges despite ongoing risks,' the report said.

 

It also noted that consumer inflation in the major economies of South Asia has been above central banks' targets since late 2019.

 

In India, easing supply disruptions related to COVID and deficient demand contributed to a return of inflation toward the mid-point of the 2-6 per cent target range since mid-2021. Core inflation, however, remains at the upper end of the target range.

 

The report said that following the major setback to health and economic activity caused by the mid-2021 second wave of COVID in South Asia, economic activity has recovered.

 

New cases of COVID stabilised at lower levels last year but are again accelerating in parts of the region as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly in early 2022.

 

In India, the economic damage caused by the second wave has already been unwound with output effectively back to levels reached prior to the pandemic (2019 Q4) as COVID cases and restrictions subsided, it added.

 

As per the Global Economic Prospects report, following a strong rebound in 2021, the global economy is entering a pronounced slowdown amid fresh threats from COVID variants and a rise in inflation, debt, and income inequality that could endanger the recovery in emerging and developing economies.

 

Global growth is expected to decelerate markedly from 5.5 per cent in 2021 to 4.1 per cent in 2022 and 3.2 per cent in 2023 as pent-up demand dissipates and as fiscal and monetary support is unwound across the world.

Iranian state agency the Government Trading Corporation (GTC) has issued an international tender to purchase about 60,000 tonnes of milling wheat, European traders said on Wednesday.

 

The deadline for the submission of price offers in the tender is also Wednesday, Jan. 12.

 

Volumes in Iran’s tenders are nominal and the country regularly buys more than the original tonnage sought.

 

Traders said Iran last week purchased about four shipments of wheat each of about 60,000 tonnes likely to be sourced from Germany or Russia and the Black Sea region, traders said.

 

The new tender seeks shipment in February/March.

 

Iran has been a regular wheat buyer in recent months with about 740,000 tonnes also bought in December.

 

Iran needs to import around 8 million tonnes of wheat after its crop was damaged by the worst drought in 50 years, Reuters reported in October.

 

But western sanctions on Iran continue to make payment difficult, traders said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday met U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan in New Delhi for the formal launch of negotiations for a free trade agreement.

 

Both sides will hold deliberations over an array of trade opportunities of mutual interest, benefiting India and the U.K.

 

“Met with U.K. Secretary of State for International Trade @AnnieTrev for the launch of India-UK Free Trade Agreement Negotiations,” Mr. Goyal said in a tweet.

 

This agreement is aimed at liberalising norms and reducing customs duties to boost trade in goods and services, besides promoting investments.

 

India’s exports to the U.K. stood at $8.15 billion in 2020-21, while imports aggregated at $4.95 billion.

 

India’s main exports to the U.K. include ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum products, transport equipment, spices, pharmaceuticals and marine products.

 

Imports from Britain include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scraps, engineering goods, chemicals and machinery.

 

In the services sector, the U.K. is the largest market in Europe for Indian IT services.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution today asked Industry Bodies to prepay MSMEs to safeguard their viability and to boost employment and growth. He was interacting with the leaders of major Industry bodies virtually from New Delhi today.

 

Shri Piyush Goyal was speaking at a meeting with heads of top Business and Industry Associations of country today to seek their suggestions and inputs to ensure continuation of fast rebound of economic activities and high growth rates being achieved.

 

He congratulated Indian Industry for bouncing back after taking a hit due to the pandemic and for the resilience displayed while grappling with the pandemic, especially in the field of exports.

 

The Minister said that the growth in services exports, inspite of travel and tourism restrictions was truly commendable and said that we must aim to reach $ 250 billion services exports. He added that Indian professionals had demonstrated great success in working from home and therefore the nation had succeeded in meeting every single one of its international commitments, even during the pandemic, earning it the title of being a trusted partner to the world.

 

Highlighting the progress made in FTA negotiations, Shri Goyal said that the Government was striving to conclude several Early Harvest Agreements so that their benefits could reach industry soon. He said that an FTA with UAE was nearing conclusion, negotiations were at an advanced stage with Australia and that discussions with Israel were ongoing.

 

Referring to the relaunch of market access negotiations with Korea, Shri Goyal said that a comprehensive fast track dialogue had been initiated to address concerns arising out of the previous agreement.

 

The Minister said that there was an imminent need for upgradation of testing facilities and labs to improve to quality and called upon Indian Industry to extend its support in this regard. He also asks the industry to lend guidance for transformational exports growth beyond $ 400 billion.

 

Shri Goyal told industry leaders to be proactive in giving inputs to the government, especially in arenas like FTA negotiations. Industry should become more demanding, he added.

 

He urged Industry to use Single Window for business processes and approvals to the maximum extent possible and asked them to give suggestions and inputs for further decriminalization of rules and reduction of compliance burdens wherever feasible.

 

The Minister also asked industry to invest more and place greater emphasis upon Research and Development activities as a business and growth strategy.

 

Underscoring Government’s commitment towards infrastructure development and capital expenditure, Shri Goyal said that the Centre would always support businesses activities. He also asked industry to use initiatives like the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan and India Industrial Land Bank to the best possible extent to expand and grow. The Minister observed that by and large economic, activities had not being impacted by the current Covid surge.

 

Industry representatives present in the VC included Shri Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII; Shri Subhrakant Panda, Senior Vice President & Shri Sanjiv Mehta, President, FICCI; Shri Vineet Agarwal, President & Shri Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM; Shri Pradeep Multani, President & Shri Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHDCCI; Shri Pradeep Sureka, President & Dr Rajeev Singh, Director General, Indian Chamber of Commerce; Shri Juzar Khorakiwala, President & Shri Ajit Mangrulkar, Director General, Indian Merchant Chamber; Shri Gopi Koteeswaran, of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Shri Lalit Beriwala, Senior Vice President, Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Shri Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries; Shri Rasesh Doshi, Vice President, Federation of Associations of Maharashtra; Shri Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT); Shri Rakesh Chhabra, Vice President & Shri Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises; Shri Baldevbhai Prajapati, All India President, Laghu Udyog Bharati; Shri Ashish Aggarwal, Vice President & Head of Public Policy, NASSCOM; Shri Ravi Raghavan, President, Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association; Shri Vinod Aggarwal, Vice President & Shri Rajesh Menon, Director General, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM); Shri Sunjay J. Kapur, President, Auto Component Manufacturer Association (ACMA); Shri Vipul Ray, President, Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) and Dr Viranchi Shah, National President, Indian Drug Manufactures' Association.

Fresh fruit importers in the country are increasing their warehousing and cold storage facilities due to a surge in Covid cases. The demand for imported fruits has increased in the country due to the surge in Covid cases and fresh fruit importers are taking no chance to keep the supply chain smooth.

 

Talking to ET, Tarun Arora, director of finance and operations at IG International, a leading fresh fruit importer, said, ' In the globalized economy, warehousing and logistics are crucial aspects and play a strategic role in business growth.'

 

'IG International is the largest importer of fresh fruit in India. Cold storages form the lifeline of our business, as fresh fruits are highly perishable. One of the greatest successes of IG has been building a robust distribution network of fresh fruit in India so that fruit growers anywhere in the world and consumers in India can benefit from one joined-up marketplace. Our strategically located cold storages are our greatest enabler in keeping intact our supply chain,' he said.

 

Post pandemic, there has been a surge in demand for imported fruits for their immunity-enhancing and nutritional properties. Although over the years, other factors like healthy lifestyle choices, rising incomes, and increased affordability have also contributed significantly to the rising demand.

 

'At IG, we responded to this growing volumetric rise by continuously developing and investing in strategic infrastructure to supplement our supply chain management..IG’s investment in cold storage facilities involves decisions that are long-term in their implications and sustainable in nature. By adding 6,40,000 cubic feet of cold space recently in Delhi to our existing warehousing, we look forward to enhancing our reach and penetration throughout India to meet the growing aspiration of our customers,' Arora added.

 

Besides Delhi and Mumbai, the company’s other cold chain facilities are located in Panvel, Bangalore, Chennai, Ganaur, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and Amravati. IG International further plans to expand pan India in collaboration with JM Baxi,the integrated Infrastructure and shipping company, with similar cold chain terminals.

India at the World Trade Organization (WTO) has questioned the restrictions that Singapore has imposed on the import of certain food items, such as meat and eggs, from the country for lack of mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) between the two.

'India requests Singapore to explain the reasons for the non-existence of MRA with India’s regulatory authorities despite a comprehensive free-trade agreement (FTA), which is nearly two decades old,' it asked Singapore during a trade policy review over the city-state not allowing import of certain food items.

 

Singapore claimed that meat, eggs, and their products must be imported from approved sources in accredited countries or regions that meet the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) food safety and animal health standards and requirements.

 

'Accreditation is necessary as these products can carry food safety risks and animal diseases of public health and trade importance. We thank India for its interest and welcome further discussion with our SPS competent authority for food safety, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA),' the Southeast Asian country replied.

The SFA's accreditation procedure is a two-stage process. ,The first stage involves country accreditation, where the country is assessed for regulatory oversight and freedom from animal diseases of important trade and public health concerns (such as foot-and-mouth disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

The second stage involves the individual establishment accreditation, where the food safety and quality programmes and operational hygiene practices of the export meat processing plants are evaluated. This involves submission of a documentary dossier, followed by an inspection,' Singapore said.

 

Singapore currently allows the import of fresh eggs only from accredited farms in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States.

 

'Imports of broiler chickens and ducks are allowed only from accredited farms in Malaysia. Pigs may be imported only from one farm in Indonesia and one in Malaysia. Dairy products from countries that are not free from the foot-and-mouth disease may be imported only if subjected to treatment in accordance with the OIE guidelines,' it added.

India has been taking a tough stand against non-tariff barriers (NTBs) raised by its trading partners. Trade minister Piyush Goyal has even threatened reciprocal measures if certain countries do not remove such NTBs on Indian goods and services.

 

In October last year, Goyal called upon the Asean members to do away with NTBs and curb the misuse of FTAs by third parties, often outside the region.

 

'It is unfortunate' that recently ,we had to deal with several restrictive barriers on our exports to Asean, particularly in agriculture and auto. I think this only results in reciprocal action from other countries, including India and will hurt the long-term desire of our leaders to expand trade between the two countries,' Goyal said at a special plenary with trade ministers of the region.

 

The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore came into force on August 1, 2005, and the first review was concluded on October 1, 2007. The second review of the CECA was launched in May 2010 but concluded in 2018. India exported goods worth $6.7 billion in FY21 and imported $9.6 billion in the same year from Singapore, leading to a bilateral trade deficit of $2.9 billion.

India has secured approval of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the export of domestic mangoes to America in the new season, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday.

 

The export of Indian mangoes has been restricted by the US since 2020 as the USDA inspectors were unable to visit India for inspection of irradiation facilities due to restrictions imposed on international travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 23, 2021, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the USDA signed a framework agreement for implementing the agri-market access issues.

 

Under the agreement, India and the US will follow a joint protocol on irradiation for India's mango and pomegranate exports to the US and import of cherries and Alfalfa hay from America. The ministry said that a revised work plan has been worked out, including phase-wise transfer of oversight of pre clearance of Irradiation treatment to India as agreed upon between both countries. 'As part of the mutual agreement, India will be able to export mangoes to the USA in the mango season commencing with the Alphonso variety of mangoes by March onwards..

 

The central government has secured the approval of the USDA for export of Indian mangoes to the USA in the new season,' it noted. According to the ministry, India had exported 800 Metric Tonnes (MTs) of mangoes to the US in 2017-18 worth USD 2.75 million. Similarly, in 2018-19, 951 MT mangoes of USD 3.63 million were exported and 1,095 MT worth USD 4.35 million in 2019-20. 'As per estimates received from the exporters, the export of mangoes in 2022, may surpass the figures of 2019-20,' the ministry said.

 

The USDA approval would pave the way for exports from traditional mango production belts such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

 

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) said that this would also provide an opportunity for the export of other delicious varieties of mangoes from North and East India, such as Langra, Chausa, Dushehri, Fazli, etc from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.