Focus
By Ranjit Monga
New Delhi: While international standards are based on synthetics and aroma chemicals, in India, its biodiversity offers a lot of natural and forest products also. Hence, there are about 10 per cent India specific plants on which research needs to be done so as to formulate new standards accordingly and promote exports. Apart from this, the 90 percent of the standards existing in other countries can be adapted to India.
As of today, one of the impediments to the growth of the Indian fragrance and flavour industry is the lack of standards. This was recently also pointed out by Rishabh C. Kothari, president of Fragrances and Flavours Association of India (FAFAI) in a webinar which FAFAI had jointly organised with the Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), Kannauj on the topic ‘Atmanirbhar India with Indian Standards and Regulations for Fragrances and Flavours’, recently. The event was attended by directors of over 10 premier research institutions and over 100 entrepreneurs from across the country.
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FAFAI is the apex body of manufacturers, traders and dealers of fragrances, flavours as well as their ingredients including aroma chemicals and natural essential oils.
Addressing the webinar, Union Minister for MSME Nitin Gadkari said that the government was keen to encourage the fragrance and flavour industry in India as it can provide a lot of employment in the rural areas. However, it may be mentioned that while India also accounts for 80 per cent of mint oil production in the world, what is still required is research and innovation to promote its production and export.
Gadkari expressed regret about the speed at which the Indian scientific and research bodies are able to produce tangible results and suggested that it might be prudent to also look at other international standards and examine how they could be wholly or partially accepted to make this process faster.
The minister remarked that completing this task will enable Indian industry to become more competitive in the global export market and also benchmark itself against the best in the world. Not only will this lead to a growth in exports but will contribute to the growth of the entire industry, he said.
However, Yogesh Dubey, president of the Essential Oil Association of India [EOAI] cautioned that if irrational rules based on synthetics were implemented, then the entire Indian naturals industry where India has a competitive edge “would be wiped out”. The regulation must be sensitive to the aspect that natural products cannot be put at par with synthetic ingredients, he said.
“We want to strengthen flower production and will talk to the agricultural ministry to remove any problems the farmers may be facing so that exports can grow in this area,” Gadkari said. To this effect DK Singh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, Union MSME Ministry, suggested that FFDC, Kannauj be made as the nodal agency for all these activities including compiling relevant data and reports on national and international regulation, a suggestion which was immediately agreed upon by industry representatives as well as directors of all the research organisations.
