To
trade Naturally
To
take advantage of trade opportunities in organic products, developing
countries must contend with a plethora of quality checks and high
certification costs, says Sreeram Chellappa
Exports
from India in general have performed well in 2002-03, registering
a growth of 19.18 per cent and garnering a foreign exchange of $52.23
billion. Agriculture and allied products exports, which account for
only 8.5 percent by weight in the total basket, posted a growth of
10.32 per cent by fetching $4.48 billion.
Global
consumers are increasingly looking for organic food, which is considered
safe and hazard free. A study conducted by Rabo India shows that the
global market for organic food is expected to touch $23 to $25 billion
by 2003 and $29 to $31 billion by 2005. Countries which are opting
for organic foods are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Finland, Greece,
Portugal, Spain, Norway, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
US, Canada and Japan.
About
65 per cent of the country’s cropped area is not irrigated where the
farming practices are still largely ‘organic by default’ and yet they
produce sufficient food. The use of chemical fertilisers is comparatively
low in the Eastern and North-Eastern parts of the country and yet
there is sufficient food production. This defies the myth that the
output would fall if the farmer goes back to organic farming. It is
the high yielding varieties of seeds, which are important and not
excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. India has been
slow to cash in on this global situation. Only 1,426 farms in India
have been certified as organic so far. Based on the Indian government’s
figures of certified organic farms the FAO has estimated that the
country produces only 14,000 tonnes of organic products. But the fact
is that the country has more areas of organic farms than officially
certified and produces more organic food than estimated by the FAO.
The major organic products sold in the global markets include (in
order of importance) dried fruits and nuts, cocoa, spices, herbs,
oil crops, and derived products. Non-food items include cotton, cut
flowers, livestock and pot plants.
To
be certified organic
Large
organic food markets such as the US present particular problems for
Indian exporters because of the rigid labelling requirements. In the
US products are accepted as ‘organic’ only if they conform to the
norms set by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which are fairly
stringent and require certification, which can be costly and cumbersome
for exporters from poor countries.
The
certification process
A
grower or handler seeking organic certification is required to submit
an organic farm plan or organic handling plan to a USDA-accredited
private or state certification program. The organic plan must detail
all current growing and handling methods, and any materials that will
be used. The plan must also cover future intentions and improvement
planned in all areas of production. Even growers or harvesters of
organic wild crops must develop a plan showing that harvesting practices
will not be destructive to the environment or to the future productivity
of the crop. The USDA further requires that records of all management
practices and materials used in organic production must be kept for
5 years. In order to be certified as organic, crops must be grown
on land, which has been free of prohibited substances for 3 years
prior to harvest. Crops grown on land in transition to being organic,
that is, during the first 3 years after switching from conventional
farming cannot be labelled as
‘organic’.
Organic
farming and certification in India
In
India, the relative lack of national rules, regulations and specific
standards relating to organic food production, inadequate certifying
agencies and unrecognised ‘green’ marketing and retailing channels
have only been confusing the producers and consumers alike. These
have also prevented farmers from exploiting the export market advantages
of organic production.
contd...
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