APEDA organises webinar on EU regulations on organic products for Indian exporters

A panel discussion was held on the aspects of new regulatory requirements and emerging market opportunities were detailed

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organised a webinar jointly with the Indian Embassy in Brussels and Denmark to keep pace with the changing regulatory requirements for export of organic products to European Union,  

The webinar focussed on the revised Regulations being implemented since January 1, 2022 for imports in EU and the market opportunities for Indian organic products. 

While complementing the stakeholders on the milestone achieved by India by crossing remarkable export of more than $ 1billion organic products under NPOP, Dr M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, emphasised that the applicable standards need to be adhered to maintain the market acceptance by the end consumers and the national regulators. He also stated that APEDA provides possible means for market penetration of new products and brand building through participation in organic food fairs in EU. 

A panel discussion was also held with members of OrganicDenmark, Confederation of Indian Organic Industry, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and Organic Processing and Trade Association (Europe) (OPTA). Technical sessions were led by Michel Reynaud of IFOAM and Aurora Abad of OPTA wherein the aspects on new regulatory requirements and emerging market opportunities were detailed. 

In his address, Santosh Jha, Ambassador of India to Belgium, Luxembourg and EU, highlighted the necessity for the market acceptance for organic products, expectation by the importing countries and emerging opportunities for Indian organic products. 

Pooja Kapur, Ambassador of India to Denmark, spoke about the current organic market trend focussing on Europe, significance of regulatory system and brand building for India. 

Though the webinar was aimed for Indian exporters, it witnessed the participation of trade associations in EU, Indian missions of various EU Member States, Certification Bodies, Assessors and officials from various departments. 

APEDA is the implementing body for the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP). The programme involves the accreditation of Certification Bodies, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming and marketing, etc. The NPOP standards for production and accreditation system have been recognized by European Commission and Switzerland for unprocessed plant products as equivalent to their country standards. With these recognitions, Indian organic products duly certified by the accredited Certification bodies of India are accepted by the importing countries. APEDA is also in the process of negotiation with South Korea, Canada, Japan, Australia etc.

A panel discussion was held on the