Government regulators and regulatory experts from the industry collectively agreed that food safety can be implemented only when ‘preference of medicine over food is altered’ while attending a conference titled as ‘Food safety beyond boundaries: Time to rethink, reevaluate & resolve issues’.
The conference was organized by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and supported by Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) AFST(I) along with the ‘Annapoorna-world of food India’ exhibition in Mumbai. The conference discussed issues and challenges in food safety with emerging trends in global food trade by decoding the hindrances and impact. A delegation from Argentina led by Ing Jorge Feijoo, production minister of Tucuman, Argentina participated in the event to promote lemon from their country.
V K Singh, joint director, Export Inspection Council of India, said “Strong civil societies with rule of media with increased participation into regulatory body will benefit the food safety campaign. Change in the pattern of dietary consumption and role of populous nations made crucial impacts in emerging trends in global food trade. Creating regulatory convergence with trade facilitation towards improving the ease of doing business could be a game changer. Food testing and certification also have a crucial role to play in ensuring food safety while doing business in local and international level.”
Dr. Shudhashu, regional in charge, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) western region, said “Case studies from the international trade shows the examples for how to and how not to do business with other countries. We are obliged to follow rules and regulations of countries to which we are exporting the food products. APEDA has created trade facilitation measures helping Indian companies to export their products.”
“APEDA has set an example for dealing with the countries and their regulations by promoting Indian agricultural products. The foreign trade policy adopted by Indian government is very encouraging for food business and a focus on safety is increasingly capturing the changes.”
Pablo Padilla, director, Institute of Production Development of Tucuman, Argentina, said “We have already got many request from Indian companies and authorities who are interested in the Argentinean agri and food products. We are here to promote the yellow lemon and lemon products produced in the northern part of Argentina. We are looking for Indian companies to build partnerships and trade with Argentinean companies for processing.”
‘Annapoorna-world of food India’ is a 3-day international exhibition for food and beverage trade, catering & retail market celebrating its 10th anniversary, organized by Koelnmesse YA Tradefair Pvt Ltd and FICCI.