The Hindu Business Line : Panel: Cut import duty on coffee vending machine

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has asked the Department of Commerce to take it up with the Finance Ministry to cut the import duty on coffee vending and brewing machine in the forthcoming Union Budget to boost domestic consumption of coffee.

In its 79th action report tabled in Parliament by its Chairman, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, the Committee said the campaign to boost domestic coffee consumption should be finalised expeditiously. The Committee said coffee exports to the Russian Federation and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries had not registered any tangible spurt during the last four years. This, it said, calls for a more vigorous push on the part of the Government to promote export of coffee through innovative marketing initiatives.

In its deposition before the Committee, the Commerce Ministry mentioned that Japan was being targeted for marketing high-value coffee of arabica and also specialty coffee. The leading Japanese Coffee roasters advised that India should participate in the All Japan Specialty Coffee Association fair. As a result of recent efforts, a delegation of the All Japan Specialty Coffee Association is likely to visit India sometime during the first half of 2007 for detailed interactions with the Indian coffee industry to improve coffee trade relations between India and Japan.

Provision of MSP

Commenting on the response to its earlier recommendation concerning provision of minimum support price (MSP) for coffee that it was not necessary because there was a price stabilisation fund scheme (PSFS), the Committee said the PSFS had not served its primary objective for which it was introduced. Against a target of 3.42 lakh coffee growers, only 11,562 growers had been registered so far under the scheme.

Hence, it urged once again for "due protection" to small growers either through an MSP mechanism or through a restructured PSFS, which is more purposeful and attractive to the growers.

It also criticised the Government for tepid results on pollution control measures initiated by it. It was also not clear as to what extent the awareness campaign mounted in this regard have succeeded.

Pollution control steps

While pitching for effective pollution control measures within a specified timeframe, the committee also said that periodic evaluation exercise should be carried out to measure the level of success of efforts concerning pollution control as well as awareness generation.

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