Meetings and Workshops have been conducted to evolve a roadmap for implementation of the Agriculture Export Policy. A national level meeting was held in New Delhi, on 8th January 2019, under the chairmanship of Minister of Commerce & Industry. Representatives of Departments of Agriculture/Horticulture, of various State/U.T. Governments, representatives of Central Government Ministries/ Departments, representatives from trade, farmers’ groups, trade promotion bodies and experts in the field of Agriculture attended the meeting. Meetings are also being organised at State and Cluster levels to implement the Agriculture Export Policy.

Increasing agricultural exports from the present levels, to around USD 60 billion by 2022 is one of the objectives of the Agriculture Export Policy.

Promoting exports of agricultural products from the country is a continuous process. Various measures to increase agricultural exports, both strategic and operational, have been included in the newly introduced Agriculture Export Policy. The Department of Commerce also has several schemes to promote exports, including exports of agricultural products, viz. Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES), Market Access Initiatives (MAI) Scheme, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) etc. In addition, assistance to the exporters of agricultural products is also available under the Export Promotion Schemes of Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Tobacco Board, Tea Board, Coffee Board, Rubber Board and Spices Board. These organisations also seek to promote exports through participation in international fairs & exhibitions, taking initiatives to gain market access for different products in different markets, dissemination of market intelligence and taking steps to ensure quality of exported products.

This information was given by the Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, C. R. Chaudhary, in written replies in the Lok Sabha today.

Agriculture export policy expands market access and export promotion through schemes, workshops and institutional support. Implementation of the Agriculture Export Policy is progressing via national, state and cluster workshops to create a roadmap for expanding agricultural exports. The Policy pairs strategic and operational measures with existing export promotion schemes and sectoral export development authorities, which support exporters through trade infrastructure, market access initiatives, participation in international fairs, market intelligence dissemination and quality assurance measures.