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Harish Damodaran

NEW DELHI, Jan. 30

THE Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) plans to develop an exclusive `Made in India' logo that can be displayed by exporters of agro and food products on their consignments.

``We are in the process of developing the logo and hope to introduce it in a month's time during the current fiscal itself. Initially, we plan to start with basmati rice, which can then be extended to other products, as and when the basic quality parameters for these are finalised'', Mr Anil Swarup, Chairman, APEDA, told Business Line.

The `Made in India' logo, he added, would be owned by APEDA and it could be used by any exporter of agro and processed foods, subject to their product meeting the specific quality and processing hygiene standards stipulated by APEDA. ``We have decided to start with basmati because this is a product where the quality parameters are well defined. This could perhaps be followed by mangoes and gherkins, where similar norms are already in place, though not as well-defined as in basmati rice'', Mr Swarup noted.

The idea behind the logo, he said, was to give some sort of official identity or seal of approval for quality, which would impart confidence among the buyers and ultimately help the exporter to realise a better price for his produce. According to Mr Swarup, the basic problem today arose from the sheer number of companies and individuals that are engaged in exports of agro products.

For instance, in the case of basmati rice alone, the country last year exported a record 8.47 lakh tonnes valued at Rs 2,148.79 crore. But a significant chunk of these exports were undertaken by small players, with none of the organised, big names such as Satnam Overseas, LT Overseas, KRBL and United Riceland individually exporting more than 35-40,000 tonnes.

``There are so many players that it is not possible to physically monitor each exporter or check each consignment for quality. The stick approach never works and neither is it desirable to restrict anyone from exporting in a liberalised scenario. It is better, instead, to adopt the carrot approach and induce exporters to come forward and gainfully use our logo, in which case they have no alternative but to follow the prescribed quality standards'', Mr Swarup pointed out.

In basmati rice, the All-India Rice Exporter's Association (AIREA) has itself sought to set out minimum acceptable range of physical characteristics/parameters for the product to be shipped such as kernel length not less than 6.6 mm, kernel breadth not more than 2 mm, length-breadth ratio more than 3.5, elongation ratio of a minimum of 1.7, amylose content of 20-25 per cent, etc.

Besides, it has also proposed to define norms for admixture. For instance, a product could qualify as being premium basmati only if the maximum indeterminate (admixture) matter is restricted to 20 per cent, which means that at least 80 per cent of the rice should consist of traditionally grown varieties as taraori, type 3, basmati 370, etc.

If more than 20 per cent of crossed/hybrid varieties (pusa basmati-1, RH-10, etc) is mixed with the traditional ones, the product would be simply called Indian basmati. ``We are now working out similar standards and quality parameters for other products in consultation with the respective industry associations'', Mr Swarup said.

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