The Hindu Business Line : Sesame seed exports to Russia likely to be affected

Even though the Russian authorities have provisionally (subject to conditions) lifted the temporary restrictions on import of Indian sesame seeds into that country, the problem for Indian exporters still remain because of the delay in procurement of pre-shipment testing certificates (of samples) from the single approved national laboratory.

Trade sources blame the delay on dependence for such certification on a single designated lab. A leading Gujarat-based exporter, fearing cancellation of his order by the Russian buyer of sesame seeds because of the delay in issuance of quality test certificate, has sent an SOS to Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council (Shefexil) to either arrange for another accredited lab or convince the Russian authorities through the Government of India channels to approve and enlist a few more nationally accredited testing labs.

Immediate necessity

Two basic conditions that now need to be fulfilled by Indian exporters are, a) sesame seeds from GMP (genetically modified plant) sources shall not be exported to the Russian Federation; b)

Each consignment of sesame seeds shipped shall be accompanied by a quality test certificate of Shriram Institute for Industrial Research for each lot.

The Shellac and Forest Products Export Promotion Council had suggested that the export policy for sesame seeds may be suitably modified to ensure that exports of the commodity to Russia may be permitted subject to a health certificate issued by the Export Inspection Council (EIC), based on a laboratory test report Shriram Insttitute for Industrial Research or any other agencies, as may be notified from time to time.

A Russian delegation, in India some months ago at the invite of Indian authorities to check out the accredited national labs for testing of export quality sesame seeds, had provided a copy of the model quality certificate for sesame seed and wanted the Indian labs to follow it while issuing the certificate.

Following a closed door meeting with members of the visiting Russian inspection team, an approved format of the certificate of sesame seed quality was forwarded by the APEDA to the Indian Embassy in Moscow for formal acceptance of the Russian authorities.

It is learnt that at the said meeting, the Russian delegation had also recommended the name of Vimta Labs of Hyderabad.

The letter of assurance for export of groundnut and sesame seeds to the Russian Federation was signed on September 7, 2007, after the Protocol for rice export was initialled on July 10, 2007.

According to informed sources, the full compliance details of the commitments by the Indian side have already been submitted to the Indian Embassy in Moscow, for being forwarded to the Russian side.

The deadline for groundnut and sesame seeds was January 7, 2008.

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