Lok Sabha Question No. 1929 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-28
Subject: Organic Food Products
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: AJAY NISHAD, V. SATHYABAMA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1929(H) TO BE ANSWERED ON 28 th  NOVEMBER, 2016

## ORGANIC FOOD PRODUCTS

## 1929(H). SHRI AJAY NISHAD: SHRIMATI V. SATHYA BAMA:.

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाͨणÏय एवं उɮयोग मंğी )

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  Government  proposes  to  frame  a  policy  with  regard  to  organic  products  with specific safety standards, traceability norms, soil certification guidelines, etc.;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the details of the agencies in India that certify organic products for export and for domestic market;
- (c) the  quantum  of  export  of  certified  organic  products  from  India,  promoted  under Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  Scheme  under  components  of  National  Mission  for Sustainable Agriculture;
- (d) the  present  status  of  demand,  supply,  consumption  and  production  of  organic  food products in the country; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to increase the production of organic food and meet their demands including the steps taken for its promotion in the global market?

## ANSWER

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## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

## (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

- (a  &  b)  The  Ministry  of  Commerce  &  Industry  has  notified  the  National  Programme  for Organic Production (NPOP) under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulations) Act, 1992 to facilitate export of organic products.

Currently there are no mandatory  domestic  standards for organic production. However, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has formulated the Organic Agricultural  Produce  Grading  and  Marking  Rules,  2009  under  the  Agricultural Produce (Grading & Marking) Act, 1937. The standards prescribed under these Rules are based on NPOP and are voluntary in nature.

The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare operates 'Participatory  Guarantee  System-India  (PGS-India)"  through  National  Centre  of Organic Farming (NCOF), Ghaziabad. The PGS-INDIA organic certification is free of  cost  to  the  farmers,  which  is  being  promoted  under  Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas Yojana  (PKVY)  Scheme  under  components  of  National  Mission  for  Sustainable Agriculture.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, has formulated following standards for organic products:

- (i) IS 16550 (Part 1): 2016 Organic Production System and Labelling of Organically Produced Products Part 1 Crop Based
- (ii) IS 16550 (Part 2): 2016 Organic Production System and Labelling of Organically Produced Products Part 2 Animal Based (finalized and under publication)

The list of 28 Certification Bodies, accredited under NPOP for certification of organic products for exports, is at Annexure-I .  PGS-India, instead of relying on third party certification,  operates  by  networking  the  local  groups  under  common  umbrella through various facilitating agencies, Regional Councils and Zonal Councils.

- (c) A product is allowed to be exported as organic only if it is produced, processed and packed under a valid Organic certificate issued by an accredited Certification Body under  the  National  Programme  for  Organic  Production  (NPOP).  NPOP  has  been notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Foreign Trade (Development  and  Regulation)  (FTDR)  Act.  Data  for  total  exports  of  organic agricultural products (certified under NPOP), for the last three years, is given below:

| Year    |   Export (Quantity)(MT) |   Export Value in crore Rs. |   Export (Value) million USD |
|---------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------------|
| 2015-16 |                  263687 |                     1975.87 |                          298 |
| 2014-15 |                  285663 |                     2099.16 |                          327 |
| 2013-14 |                  177765 |                     1328.61 |                          220 |

Source: APEDA

Separate data for organic export certified under PKVY is not maintained.

- (d) During 2015-16, area under NPOP certification was around 5.71 million ha including forest  area  of  4.22  million  ha.  The  total  organic  production  was  1.35  million  MT including wild collection out of which 0.26 million MT was exported. Under PGSIndia,  the  total  area  under  cultivation  is  only  70,767.16  ha  (Source:  PGS-India portal).
- (e) The Government has introduced NPOP for promoting organic production and export of organic products. Under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), the  Government  has  launched  Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY)  scheme, with an financial outlay of Rs.300.00 crore during 12 th Five Year Plan, for promoting organic farming on cluster mode so as to form 10,000 clusters (with cluster size 50 acre) across the country to bring 5 lakh hectare area under organic farming through Participatory Guarantee System (PGS)-organic certification.

Encouraging  exports  of  agricultural  products,  including  organic  products,  is  a continuous  process.  The  Agricultural  and  Processed  Food  Export  Development Authority (APEDA), an autonomous organisation under the Department of Commerce, provides financial assistance to the exporters through various components of  its  Plan  Scheme  viz.  Infrastructure  Development,  Market  Promotion,  Quality Development  and  Transport  Assistance.  Besides  these  measures,  the  Ministry  of

Commerce & Industry has put in place various schemes namely Market Development Assistance  (MDA),  Market  Assistance  Initiative  (MAI)  and  Merchandise  Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) etc. to provide assistance to encourage exports.

*******

## ANNEXURE-I

## LIST OF ACCREDITED CERTIFICATION BODIES UNDER NPOP

|   Sr. No | Name of the Certification Agency                             |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Bureau Veritas Certification India (BVCI) Pvt. Ltd.          |
|        2 | ECOCERT India Pvt. Ltd.                                      |
|        3 | IMO Control Pvt. Ltd.                                        |
|        4 | Indian Organic Certification Agency (INDOCERT)               |
|        5 | Lacon Quality Certification Pvt. Ltd.                        |
|        6 | OneCert Asia Agri Certification (P) Ltd.                     |
|        7 | SGS India Pvt. Ltd.                                          |
|        8 | Control Union Certifications                                 |
|        9 | Uttarakhand State Organic Certification Agency (USOCA)       |
|       10 | APOF Organic Certification Agency (AOCA)                     |
|       11 | Rajasthan Organic Certification Agency (ROCA)                |
|       12 | Vedic Organic Certification Agency                           |
|       13 | ISCOP (Indian Society for Certification of Organic Products) |
|       14 | Food Cert India Pvt. Ltd                                     |
|       15 | Aditi Organic Certifications Pvt. Ltd                        |
|       16 | Chhattisgarh Certification Society, India (CGCERT)           |
|       17 | Tamil Nadu Organic Certification Department (TNOCD)          |
|       18 | Intertek India Pvt. Ltd.                                     |
|       19 | Madhya Pradesh State Organic Certification Agency            |
|       20 | Odisha State Organic Certification Agency (OSOCA             |
|       21 | Natural Organic Certification Agro Pvt. Ltd.                 |
|       22 | Fair Cert Certification Services Pvt. Ltd.                   |
|       23 | Gujarat Organic Products Certification Agency (GOPCA)        |
|       24 | Uttar Pradesh State Organic Certification Agency             |
|       25 | Karnataka State Organic Certification Agency                 |
|       26 | Sikkim State Organic Certification Agency (SSOCA)            |
|       27 | Global Certification Society                                 |
|       28 | GreenCert Biosolutions Pvt. Ltd                              |