"Norms imposed by US on food imports are stringent"
Excerpts from the address by Dr. R K Dhawan, Chairman, Northern Region, FIEO at the Seminar in Delhi
Stringent sanitary and phytosanitary norms imposed by developed countries like US on food imports from developing courtiers which are virtually denying their access to international food markets. Developing countries lose billions of dollars for meeting these norms. However, I feel, these regulations should not be considered as non-tariff barriers and developing countries should take them as challenges to augment their competitiveness.
On the other hand, the developed countries should come forward and assist the developing countries in implementing these standards. They should make available the required knowhow, wherever required, to the developing countries so that every stage of the supply chain - right from the farmers, transporters to the processing units - can implement them and meet the quality requirements.
All said and done, such concerns of regulations cannot be addressed by the developing countries overnight. Therefore, the developed countries should provide sufficient time to them to develop and meet the required standards.
India was put across a major challenge when traceability of certain food items was made mandatory by the EU. India lived upto the challenge and APEDA came up with GrapeNet - a residue traceability system for monitoring export of fresh grapes from India to the European Union. GrapeNet has put an end-to-end system in place for monitoring pesticide residue, achieve product standardization and facilitate tracing back from retail shelves to the farm of Indian growers, through various stages of sampling, testing, certification and packing.
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| A view of the audience at Mumbai | A view of the audience at Kolkata |
Glittering Prospects: JEWELLERY
Despite the recession and the high price of gold, jewellery consumption in the European Union grew by an annual average of 2.5% between 2002 and 2006, from Euro 22,708 to Euro 25,026 million. Silver jewellery with diamonds and semi-precious stones, as well as costume jewellery were the best-performing sectors, outselling even expensive gold jewellery.
Glamour is hot in the EU and experts forecast growing demand for silver jewellery, more emphasis on design and shorter life-cycles for jewellery. They also expect jewellery sales to follow seasonal trends. New target groups are men, the elderly, pre-teens and tourists. Growth of accessory chains is expected in shopping centres.
The EU accounts for roughly 25% of global jewellery production, with Italy at the centre of design. However, China (by far the main volume supplier to the EU), India and Turkey are rapidly gaining ground as producers. Imports from developing countries (DCs) as a whole have grown at a faster rate than total EU imports, with an average annual rate of 10.4%, from Euro 4,099 to 6,104 million. Other large Asian suppliers include Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Nepal and among non-Asian Azerbaijan, Croatia, Colombia and Ecuador. EU manufacturers are now realizing they may have to outsource their production more to stay competitive and to retain their grip on design. Though smaller manufacturers may resist transferring production overseas, their need to expand is feeding interest in partnerships with DC exporters.
While China dominates DC volume supply in many product groups, there are still opportunities for suppliers offering jewellery that stands out from the mass production from China. Consumers are increasingly looking for exclusive and original designs such as jewellery from new supplier countries with new, ethnic designs. Go to www.cbi.eu/marketinfo for a free copy of the complete survey.
(Source: CBI News Bulletin November/December 2007).
