International food regulators to meet in Delhi

Statesman News Service

NEW DELHI — A global perspective on food regulation with the specific objective of building a common ground for Indian food companies and service providers will be sought at an international summit on food regulatory, here next week as experts from leading international food regulatory bodies, such as the FAO, the CODEX Alimentarius Commission and the European Commission, discuss several key issues that are globally emerging and relevant for the food sector.

The April 10-11 summit, being organized by the FAO in association with the Confederation of the Indian Industry (CII) is expected to be unique platform that would provide an excellent opportunity to all policymakers and stakeholders involved in the food sector to assess globally emerging regulations and their likely impact on the Indian food sector and India’s participation in global food trade. It will also help such participants to understand and appraise sector specific issues related to food safety regulations and quality.

The Indian food industry ~ both primary and processed ~ is poised for a rapid growth. With India having the potential to become a reliable outsourcing partner in the food sector, the sector is estimated to be worth more than $200 billion and is expected to grow to $310 billion by 2015. The food sector also contributes to a major part of the retail basket, which is growing at a hefty nine per cent.

Based on the deliberations of the summit, CII intends to develop an action plan for defining the guiding principles and the road map for standard setting and implementation thereof for the Food sector. CII is hopeful that the deliberations of the summit will go a long way in assisting various agencies towards harmonization.

Participants at the summit include the chief, Food Quality and Standards Service, Food and Nutrition Division, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN.