Exporters must be informed of change in import norms in foreign nations quickly: Sitharaman

The comprehensive national strategy for standardisation of goods and services being worked out by the government and industry should not lose sight of immediate challenges, Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

“Any national strategy for standards should be able to factor in technology to disseminate any change in import requirements in foreign countries so that our exporters are well prepared to overcome those barriers. This dissemination has to be in regional languages,” Sitharaman said inaugurating the fourth National Standards Conclave on Monday.

She said this had become critical as the number of notifications at the World Trade Organisation had increased and many dealt with standards.

“India should be setting standards for the world rather than following the standards which are being set by other countries,” the Minister said, adding that the country should participate actively in any global debate on setting standards.

The Minister also launched the India Standards Portal – a one-stop portal for all information on standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment and accreditation practices.

Referring to the problems faced by India in the agriculture sector where the nature of standards set in international bodies often militated against the Indian varieties, Sitharaman said that international standards, especially in food produce, must value variety over homogeneity and India has to participate actively in such standards setting.

“When Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) controls are put on agro products, like mangoes or grapes unilaterally, they hurt our farmers. Similarly, the maximum residue limits of certain pesticides or biocides are altered too quickly in the foreign markets and farmers are taken by surprise,” she said. Efforts must be made to create quick information system for such farmers and exporters.

The Minister hoped that the proposed strategy would provide a guide or a kind of framework so that “we avoid such crises at the negotiation stage itself’’.

She also proposed that a phone-based alert, adaptable to regional languages, be prepared so that conformity to these standards become effective.

Sitharaman inaugurated a portal on Indian standards jointly developed by the Ministry and industry body CII that would provide all information on standards existing in the country and conformity assessment.

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