The fourth session of the codex committee on spices and culinary herbs (CCSCH) that got underway in Thiruvananthapuram willdeliberate on draft standards for oregano, basil, ginger, garlic, chilli pepper and paprika, nutmeg, saffron and cloves, which are in the form of reports of electronic working groups established by the previous session held at Chennai in February 2017. More than 100 delegates from 30 countries are participating in the meet.
Two new work proposals — draft standards for turmeric and small cardamom — will also be taken up for deliberations so as to develop harmonized standards for global trade in these two much in demand spices.
Inaugurating the fourth session of the codex committee on spices and culinary herbs established under Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), Kerala governor P Sathasivam said it was important to help Indian farmers by stepping up supports like better storage facilities, which in turn would facilitate consistent supply for value addition, so as to enable them to keep abreast with their counterparts from other countries that have made a strong presence in the global market.
Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu in his message through video conferencing said with the implementation of agriculture export policy, importance has been given to promotion of organic spices’ exports.
“Kerala has suffered a production loss of more than 25,000 tones of spices valued at Rs1,254 crore in recent floods . This session’s plan to deliberate draft standards for cardamom and turmeric is truly laudable since they are among the crops that dominate the spices cultivation in Kerala,” the governor said.
Rita Teaotia, chairperson, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), said in the previous three sessions, the CCSCH succeeded in getting approval of the CAC for three standards: black, white and green pepper; cumin and thyme.
Source: Economic Times
