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 PGS-India, 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 12th 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.
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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
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