Government offers to set up food labs in India jointly with US, EU

Mumbai: The government has offered to set up food testing laboratories in the country jointly with the US and some European countries to ensure export consignments meet international quality standards, minister of state for food processing industries Subodh Kant Sahai said.

"I have made a proposal to the US and some European countries like the UK, Italy, France and Spain to set up testing laboratories jointly with India," Sahai said at a function to inaugurate an exhibition - Indian Animal Industry Expo 2007.

If the proposals are accepted, Indian exporters would be able to avoid the hardships of their consignments being rejected in those countries, he said.

The US this year allowed import of Indian mangoes after fumigation test in a designated laboratory set up in Maharashtra. While testing norms may vary in different countries, he said, "As in the case of mangoes, all food products could be exported after testing the quality here itself."

Indian missions abroad have been asked to take up the matter with the concerned authorities, the minister added.

He said there was a potential for growth in processing as less than six per cent of farm products were processed in India compared to about 80 per cent in developed countries.