This should worry Indian exporters as EU rapid
alerts on food imports from here have increased over five times in the past two
decades. “The annual rapid
alert issued by the European Commission (EC) on Indian agriculture and food
exports have increased from 61 to 324 during last two decades,” said S
Chandrasekaran, New Delhi-based trade analyst.
Hansen has been
raising the issue of standards of food production in non-EU countries. He has
been, in particular, raising concerns over the presence of pesticide residues
banned in the EU above the stipulated norms.
For India, Chandrasekaran said, the concern is that
the authorities’ response to the rapid food alerts has been tardy. “EC data
reveal that the rate of India’s reply on rapid alert notification is 23 per
cent, whereas Brazil’s is 100 per cent. Even African countries have responded
better,” he said.
The tardy response
indicates the “incompletion of the root cause analysis of the rapid alert”, he
said.
Speaking at a meeting of the Irish Farmers
Association, where farmers sought reciprocity in food trade and easing of
stringent environment rules, last week, Hansen said, it was something neither
farmers nor consumers understood. “We have to be bolder,” he said.
Earlier in Vienna, he
said the EU should “be stricter” on food import controls. This is at variance
from the EC’s earlier stand. ‘Chandrasekaran said since India’s
post-shipment system looks weak, it needs to strengthen its pre-shipment
systems and procedures.
As Europe strengthens
its regime, the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), export inspection
agencies (EIAs) and other export organisations should review the current
implementation of advisories and notifications by customs and exporters.
“It is essential to monitor the sensitive product to defend our existing
exports,” he said.
The EU has made
several proposals to maintain the maximum residue levels for some imported
agricultural and food products, in view of certain conditions existing in
non-EU countries.
But the European
Parliament has rejected the proposals calling for a policy that allows “zero
tolerance”. Hansen expressed concern over the impact of tighter controls but
seemed to be swayed by European Parliament’s views. Hansen’s statements come when his country Luxembourg is preparing to
tighten agriculture and food import norms. The small European nation is seeking
for total compliance of MRLs of pesticide in food.
Chandrasekaran said
these point to the need for the Indian government to take up the issue of
non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in bilateral discussions. “We have taken less number
of NTBs so far,” he said.