(a) whether the Ministry is aware of the plight of cashew processors and exporters of Andhra Pradesh in exporting Palasa Cashews in the international market and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has taken any steps to promote and facilitate the export of the Palasa Cashews; and
(c) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
(SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)
(a) Department of Commerce has not received any representation or information regarding plight of cashew processors of Andhra Pradesh for export of Palasa Cashew in international market, till date.
(b) & (c) Promotion of exports of agricultural products is an ongoing process. To promote agricultural exports including cashew, the Government has introduced a Central Sector Scheme –‘Transport and Marketing Assistance for Specified Agriculture Products’ – for providing assistance for the international component of freight, to mitigate the freight disadvantage for the export of agriculture products. The Government has also taken several steps at State/ District levels. State specific Action Plans, State Level Monitoring Committees (SLMCs), Nodal Agencies for agricultural exports and Cluster Level Committees have been formed in a number of States. Country and product-specific action plans have also been formulated to promote exports. A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up by APEDA for providing a platform for farmers, Farmer-Producer Organizations (FPOs) and cooperatives to interact with exporters. Buyer-seller Meets (BSMs) have been organized in the clusters to provide export-market linkages. Regular interactions, through videoconferences, have been held with the Indian Missions abroad, to assess and exploit export opportunities. Country specific BSMs, through Indian Missions, have also been organized. Besides these steps taken by the Government, the Department of Commerce also provides assistance through several other schemes, to promote exports, including exports of agricultural products viz. Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES), Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) etc. In addition, assistance to the exporters of agricultural products is also available under the Export Promotion Schemes of Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
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