Centre organises virtual networking meet for GI products with Qatar

New Delhi, Sep 12 (Agency) In its endeavour to promote export of agricultural products inherent to India, government organised a virtual networking meet for Agriculture and food GI products in association with Embassy of India, Doha and IBPC Qatar on Monday.More than 80 participants including exports, importers, representatives from IBPC, officials of Indian Embassy and Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA) participated. Dr Deepak Mittal, Ambassador, Embassy of India, Doha, Qatar, addressing the participants said such trade meets will provide opportunity for B2B interaction to enhance exports. Dr M Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA, emphasized on Government of India’s focus in promoting GI, organic and natural products.

During interaction, the exporters informed about the potential GI products for exports such as Basmati rice, mango, pomegranates, products of North East Region (NER) and several processed products. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under Ministry of Commerce & Industry has contributed significantly in promoting export of agriculture and processed food products with a share of around 50% (USD 24.77 bn) in overall agri exports during 2021-22, an official statement said. Besides being the leading producer of several agri commodities such as rice, fruits and vegetables, tea among others, India also has a distinct advantage of having registered geographical indication for several agricultural products. Presently, there are more than 400 registered Geographical Indications in India of which around 150 are agricultural and food products GI. More than 100 registered GI products fall under the category of APEDA scheduled products (fresh fruits and vegetables, processed foods, animal products and cereals), the statement added.