The European Union (EU) and India will look to cooperate in the field of standards, said an official from a visiting delegation here on Wednesday.

Ambassador Joao Cravinho, head of EU delegation to India, met Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and said that the challenges posed by standardisation of commodities were similar in both geographies.

"The EU has 28 countries and we need to have equal standards for all. In India the States have different forms of operations and production. The challenge is to standardise it in India and we will now explore how we can cooperate closely on my areas," Cravinho told reporters after the meeting.

No specific commodities had been identified as yet but the Ambassador said the delegation's technical team would begin work immediately on that front.

"We spoke about consumer affairs and it was interesting, particularly the amending of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS Act). There is a lot of opportunity for the EU and India to cooperate on standards," he added.

The Ministry has been focusing on improving the quality of goods being produced domestically and had recently suggested changes to the BIS Act (1986), including the proposal that the number of goods that had to comply with minimum quality standards under the Act be raised from 102 to 2,300.

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